Half-Life
by TwoGeekyAuthors
Summary: What if our world was different? What if gems walked among us? What if hybrids were commonplace, And yet felt the need to hide? An AU in which gem hybrids are much more common than you think. Steven isn't alone.
1. Prologue

_Prologue_

Jet_dabom39: _Hey guys is everyone here?_

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _Peter in the group chat!_

MyNameIsTreeSap25: _I was born ready!_

SlayQueen69: _You guys are in desperate need of some sass!_

Jet_dabom39: _Now I'm sad I didn't get a big entrance… :(_

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _do you even know how to have a big entrance? XD_

SlayQueen69: _So it's Alice's turn to pick the adventure right?_

MyNameIsTreeSap25: _For the last time call me Amber! It's in my screen name too!_

SlayQueen69: _;)_

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _Ok that's enough girls, stop fighting._

Jet_dabom39: _I didn't know Amber and Naila were your daughters Peter…_

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _Shut up._

HeyYou...YeahIt'sMe: _So which map is it Amber?_

SlayQueen69: _Um...who are you?_

HeyYou...YeahIt'sMe: _Amber knows me._

MyNameIsTreeSap25: _Arabella, how'd you get here?_

HeyYou...YeahIt'sMe: _I have my ways._

Jet_dabom39: _You don't have a number after your username, that's so cool!_

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _Even my incredibly long name had been taken once before me…!_

Jet_dabom39: _You're awesome! Join us!_

HeyYou...YeahIt'sMe: _Great!_

SlayQueen69: _But..._

MyNameIsTreeSap25: _I choose… Mole's Mountain._

StopPlayingThisGameRightNowAndGoPlayMyRPG#shamlessplug1: _Ugh. Fine, let's go._

My character is already at the entrance. I knew it was my turn to choose. I look at my avatar. She's nothing like me, but that's what games are all about, right? She has metallic green hair, tied up into a ponytail. Dark metal armor, with green highlights, is worn beneath her pale green robe. She's an expert sword fighter, a heroine in her own right. I wish I could be her, but I'm not.

In reality, I'm no fighter. The only thing I share with my avatar is my green eyes. Instead of armor, I wear jeans and oversized t-shirts. Instead of a heroine, I'm a 9th grade student. And that's not even the best of it. I have long red hair, and I couldn't ever put it up even if I wanted to.

You see I have this secret… I can trust you with it right? An orange gemstone is set in the back of my neck, right at the base of my skull. I've always known the smooth, round gem to be an Amber, as in fossilized tree sap. The stone is the reason for my self proclaimed nickname and my screen one. Strange, yet beautiful.

I've never really understood that part of myself, but I know it's something I have to hide. Who knows what people would say if they saw it?

I can't even tell my friends. Jeremy, Peter and Naila all go to my school, and if I told them the whole school would know by morning. Well, that would mostly be Naila's fault- she can't keep a secret even if her life depends on it. And if I just told the guys I know they would tell her, if no one else. Besides then she would be offended.

I guess I could tell Arabella, she lives in the neighboring town, and she keeps secrets so well that sometimes I think she hides things even from me. And the scary thing is that I'll never know what she really thinks, she's too good at hiding her feelings when she needs to. I wish things could go back to the way thing were between us, before we kept secrets(except the gem), before middle school started. High school hasn't made things any better. I can't bring myself to dump everything on her.

I cast these thoughts aside as Peter, the last to make it to Mole's Mountain appears. Time to play videogames.

 **Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading the prologue! I hope you continue and read chapter one. My friend(author of Harmony, another Steven universe fanfic, you should check it out #shamlessplug) and I have been working really hard on this story and hope you will enjoy it. I'll be posting every Tuesday if possible so please follow and keep reading!**


	2. Chapter 1: No Longer Alone

_Chapter 1: No Longer Alone_

School. 10:36 AM. The start of PE. Worst. Class. Ever.

"Wonder what form of torture we're being subjected to this time?" Peter remarks.

"Laps! Don't stop running 'til the music stops!" The teacher shouts, and I groan.

"Welp, here comes another potential injury," I mutter, beginning to jog.

"Hey, Alice!" Naila shouts running to me from across the gym. I sigh. She refuses to use my nickname, no matter how much I beg.

"For the last time, It's Amber, Naila," I shout back as she matches my speed.

"Yeah, I know," she giggles. I roll my eyes. "Wanna race?"

"Sure," I agree with a shrug. Not like I have anything better to do. We race almost every gym day, and the goal is not who goes faster, but who can keep running for the longest. No speed-walking, no fake-jogging.

"Go!" We both immediately slow to the absolute slowest pace that could possibly be called jogging. We're still side by side when the music stops, the whistle blows, and laps are finally over.

After a deceptively fast safety briefing, the coach turns us loose on the court. Almost all of the boys and the more athletic girls are engaged in the game of basketball, while the less athletic of us stand off to the side.

"So, I've been thinking about this new character…" Peter starts ranting about his latest idea for his imaginary online RPG. I usually tune him out, nodding occasionally or adding an idea if something catches my attention. Yet another reason to hate gym. Okay, that sounds mean, Peter's a great friend but sometimes he can be boring.

Suddenly, I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket. "Cover for me," I whisper to Naila and Peter, quickly pulling out my phone and turning around to check it.

It's a text from Jeremy, who for some reason insists on going by his RPG name, Jet. Not that I can't relate...

 **STUCK IN SCIENCE. BORING. U COMING TO THE D &D RUN TODAY?**

 **YEAH,** I quickly text back. **IM IN PE. WORST EVER.**

 **I KNOW, RIGHT?**

 **THE COACH IS LIKE, TOT-** Suddenly, the floor shakes beneath my feet, causing me to stumble and hit send before I'm done typing. An instant later, the sound of an explosion nearly deafens me. _What the hell was that?_

 **WHOA, YOU FEEL THAT TOO?**

 **YEAH. LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE OR SOMETHING.**

The source of the sound quickly becomes apparent, as a large hole is now evident in the side of the building. A huge purple figure clambers in through the hole, appearing like a cross between a bear and a spider. But what interests me the most isn't its appearance, but the shining blackish purple gem on its forehead.

A shrill whistle cuts through the gym. "Everyone out! Evacuate!" The coach screams at the top of his lungs, inducing gym-wide panic. Everyone- including me, Naila and Peter, rush for the doors, and Coach barricades them behind us. We all run screaming through the hallways for the exit- until someone yanks me out of the stream.

"What the hell, Jet?" Peter asks, clearly not amused. All four of us are now packed tightly into a tiny alcove in the side of the hallway.

"We can't just run off! Whatever that explosion-thing was, we gotta investigate!"

"Are you serious?" Naila shrieks, tensing. "There was literally like, a bear-spider-monster-thing in there!"

That was the wrong thing for her to say. Jet's eyes light up with curiosity. "All the more reason to investigate!"

I groan as Jet drags us out and back up to the gym through the thinning crowd. Only one or two people even glance at us on our way up, being so focused on fleeing themselves.

We stop just in front of the doors to the gym, the impromptu barricade still in place. I can feel minor tremors through the floor, and when I cautiously look through the doors I can see the purple behemoth stomping around the gym as if searching for something, destroying anything in its path.

Suddenly, the gigantic head turns, the gem clearly visible. All four of us gasp in unison as its eyes lock onto us, and for a brief second time freezes.

Then the monster charges.

"Run!" Someone screams, and we all dive to the side as the eight-legged creature barrels through the door, breaking down the barricade like it was nothing. In fact, it appears to have taken a sizable portion of the wall with it. We huddle against the wall, praying for it to pass us by.

No such luck. The giant head turns our way, and four sets of fight-or-flight instincts kick in.

Peter and Naila take off screaming down the hall. It ignores them, but as I try to follow their example, a huge paw comes down in front of me.

"Eeep!" I scramble backwards, and find that Jet and I are literally cornered.

"I'll go to your funeral!" Jet screams, sliding under the belly of the beast and making a break for it. Once again, the beast ignores him.

"Thanks a lot!" I shout sarcastically, then return to cowering in fear. My god, this thing is huge. The fur on its head nearly touches the ceiling, and in its mouth are both bear-esque teeth and arachnoid pincers. Saliva drips off of its fangs, and I am faced with the unrelenting reality of imminent death.

The monster lunges, its front paw attempting to cleave my head off. Ducking, I start moving on pure instinct, dashing down the hall and keeping to the wall as the monster follows, and it seems to have trouble maneuvering in such a tight space. I round a bend, and for a moment I think that I've made it- until the purple behemoth crashes through the nearest wall. I realize I'm trapped again- but this time, next to a three-story drop down the central staircase. Why would anyone ever put a gym on the third floor? I have more important things to worry about now.

Like the fact that I'm totally screwed.

The spider-bear advances, its pincers clicking menacingly and the gem slightly glowing. It feels like I'm frozen in place- I can't fight it, I have no weapon, but if I jump I'll die. Crap.

Its spider-legs click-clacking on the floor, the monster raises itself up to its full height, causing a large chunk of ceiling to come down, dust raining everywhere. It roars, and I'm sure I can feel the building shaking under me. I'm absolutely terrified as its paw comes slashing down at me-

And I make my decision. The next thing I know, I'm falling down the stairwell, screaming my head off. I land on my left foot, and I scream even harder as I hear the sickening _crack_ of a bone snapping. Breathing hard and trying desperately to block out the pain, I half-crawl, half-drag myself towards the exit.

Bricks fly everywhere as the bear-spider crushes the entire staircase, landing only a few yards away from me. I scramble backwards as fast as I can, wincing in pain as my leg catches on the uneven ground.

The monster towers over me, and I know this time there's no escape. I throw up my left hand in a futile attempt to block its strike as it brings both front paws down to crush me once and for all.

And suddenly I'm holding a sword in my right hand, and the sharp blade pierces the monster in the chest. It freezes for a single instant- and then disappears in a puff of smoke, save for the gem, which falls to the ground. I let myself relax as the adrenaline rush fades, and the sword in my hand disappears in a flash of light. Wincing, I carefully shift around and pick up the gem, tucking it in my pocket before dragging myself to the door.

"Amber!" Jet, Naila, and Peter shout simultaneously when I force the warped door open. All three of them immediately rush over to help, dragging the door open the rest of the way and carefully lifting me between the three of them.

"Careful-" I hiss as Naila accidentally touches my leg.

"Sorry. God, it's totally broken." she inches backwards a bit, revolted.

"C'mon Naila, we need your help," Jet calls, slightly annoyed. She looks up and nods, and as my vision starts to fade in and out, I can hear Peter shouting at someone over the phone while they gingerly set me down on a bench, my leg sticking over the side at an awkward angle. As I start to lose consciousness, I use the last of my strength to grip the gem in my pocket, while the other hand covers the gem on my neck.

I don't move for a long, long time.

I slowly wake up to bright lights and a loud, steady beeping. I carefully squint with one eye, and as my vision adjusts, I can see an all-white, sterile smelling room, the tiled ceiling similar to those at school. I groan, lifting my head just enough to see the machines all around me. Hospital. Great.

I gasp, and reach over to my right hand. The gem is still there, having never left my grasp.

I let out a sigh, relaxing everything but my grip. My left leg is completely immobilized, elevated and in a bulky white cast. The steady beeping of the machines is growing increasingly annoying- no way I'm going back to sleep now. I sigh and try sitting up again, surprised at the general lack of pain everywhere but my leg. Well, except for the IV in my left arm, but that's expected. To be honest, I was expecting to be extremely sore from all that.

"-astounding, I'm telling you-" A young female nurse enters the room, followed closely by an older woman in a lab coat. "Ah. You're awake," The nurse remarks upon seeing me. I tighten my grip on the gem.

"Relax. I'm Dr. Harvey, and I'm just going to take a look at your leg. You can lie down, it's not good to sit up with your leg elevated like this." I slowly nod and lie down again, not quite willing to speak.

"Now, Alice, how are you feeling?"

"My name is Amber," I reply, ignoring her question.

"Amber, then. How are you feeling?" she repeats, as if she's used to it by now. Of course she is- she probably has to deal with hundreds of patients.

"Okay. My leg hurts," I reply, relaxing a little.

"That's a good thing. It means there isn't any serious nerve damage," she says bluntly. "Veronica, thermometer." The nurse hands her a curious device that doesn't look like a thermometer I've ever seen. She holds it up to my forehead for a few seconds until it beeps, then looks at a reading. "98.8. Normal," she tells the nurse, who takes the device and writes something down. The doctor proceeds to test my blood pressure and heart rate, although I'm sure the machines hooked up to me could've told her easily.

"Well, Amber, you appear to be perfectly healthy," she muses, scratching her head. "Which still doesn't explain how you've healed so fast."

"Huh?" I ask, confused.

"It can take months or even years for a break like that to heal. It's already well on the way to being fully healed, down to a hairline fracture."

"Seriously?" I ask, trying and failing to bolt upright as her gentle but firm hand holds me down.

"Don't sit up, it'll strain your muscles," she warns. "And yes, seriously. We just took another x-ray a few hours ago."

"Wait, how long was I out?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"About 36 hours, give or take a few minutes. Don't worry, that was intentional. We kept you asleep at first for the setting, and to make sure your body got time to rest."

I give a sigh of relief. "What about my parents? Are they here?"

"They've been in the lobby since visiting hours began," she assures me, "along with four individuals around your same age."

"Jet, Peter, Naila, and Arabella!" I exclaim. "Can I see them?"

"Alright, but no physical contact. We don't want you getting infected," she smiles. "Veronica, call the front desk and ask them to send them up, would you?"

"Yes, Dr. Harvey," she replies somewhat meekly.

"I have to go now, but Veronica will be here at least until your visitors are finished. Press that red button if you need any help," she points to a button on the medical bed's control console. "But before I go, one last thing- do you have any idea why you might heal so quickly?"

A hand automatically reaches up to my neck as I reply, "No, I don't think so."

"Well, tell me if anything comes to mind," and she's gone. I sigh, deciding to enjoy the few minutes of relative silence I have left.

"Amber!" "Baby!" "Alice!" A chorus of voices shout as six people come barreling into my room.

"Are you alright? What happened? Who did this to you?" My mom is the first to make it across the room to me, and I find myself quickly surrounded by my parents and friends.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," I assured her. "There was an explosion or something at the school, and I fell down the stairs on the way out." I didn't plan to lie, but something tells me that 'giant purple bear-spider' wouldn't be the most reassuring answer.

She gives an audible sigh. "You're going to be okay, honey."

"I know, I know," I say, slightly embarrassed at the tears beading in the corners of my eyes. I reach up with my left arm and squeeze her hand reassuringly, even though I was told no physical contact. Veronica pretends not to notice.

"Blech. Family stuff can get so mushy," Jet remarks. I blush with embarrassment.

"Oh come on, man. Give her a break," Peter playfully hits him on the arm.

"You better get well real quick Alice, or I'm gonna go crazy with these two around!" Naila leans in and whispers to me. I giggle.

"Amber, I'm so glad you're okay! I just wish I was there." Ara accidently pushes Naila out of her way and wraps me in a hug. Veronica glares disapprovingly and Ara doesn't care.

"Miss, Mister, I have a few forms for you to fill out," Veronica says, projecting her voice over the chaos of the boys' argument. My mom and dad follow her out into the hallway, and I immediately seize the opportunity.

"Oh my god, you guys, you will not believe what really happened!" I squeal, gesturing for them all to gather round. "So after you guys bolted- don't blame you, by the way- I was like, totally cornered, but I dodged it and ended up trapped AGAIN but I was right next to the stairwell, and next thing I knew I was falling the whole way down, and that's how I broke my leg. And the thing came down after me, and I thought for sure then it was gonna kill me, and then all of a sudden I'm holding a sword and I stabbed it and it like, went poof and turned into smoke, and all that was left was the gem." I say in one breath. I quickly inhale as I pull my right hand out from under the blanket to show them the blackish-purplish gem I still clutch.

"Wait, what?" Ara seems confused. "I missed the first part!"

"I'll explain later," I tell her.

"Can I see the gem?" Jet asks, reaching for the gem.

"No!" I quickly pull it away again. "Sorry. I just… I don't know how, but I have a distinct feeling that if I let go of it, something really bad will happen."

"You can't just hold onto it forever," Peter remarks.

"Says who?"

"Reality."

"Besides it might be dangerous." Ara tells me.

I groan and let my hand drop again. "Well, reality sucks." Suddenly, I see a shimmering orange substance surrounding the gem, exactly like a bubble. "Whoa."

"REAL LIFE MAGIC!" Naila screeches, causing me to wince and cover my ears. The bubble floats a few inches above my hand, and I can sort of control where it goes.

"Wait, I can't let my parents see this!" I immediately go into panic mode.

"Nope. No panicking today," Peter says firmly. "We just gotta hide it. Or better yet, get it out of here entirely."

"Amber knows exactly what to do." Ara states.

"Hmm," I am no longer panicking, rather contemplative in fact. Carefully looking at the bubble, I imagine it floating in my closet back home, and gently tap the top. It vanishes into thin air.

"Whoa! Where'd it go?" asks Jet, looking around wildly.

"Back home," I say, looking at my hands.

"Well, I have to say that was officially the most awesome and magical thing I've ever seen," Naila declares.

"More than a giant purple spider-bear?"

"Okay, second most awesome then."

"Good enough."

At that moment, my parents and the nurse come back into the room. My friends decide to head home, and after a lot of convincing on my part, my parents do too. A few days later (the fastest recorded time ever, informs me) the cast is removed, and my leg proves to be as good as new.

April 15th. Maybe a month after the "monster fiasco," as me and my friends call it. I've barely gotten home from school when I receive a frantic call from Naila.

"Go on youtube and search 'crystal gem'. You are not going to believe this," she says, and then hangs up. Scratching my head, I open my laptop and type in the search term.

Whoa.

The video is titled "the crystal gems," and has 45 million views in under 20 minutes. Damn. I click on it and find myself rewarded by shaky phone camera footage of three women and two kids fighting what appears to be a giant origami spider. The skinniest woman stabs it with a spear, and the thing poofs into smoke, the video zooming in as she picks up a square green gemstone and encases it in a bubble before tapping the top, causing it to disappear. My mind is racing, trying to make connections, but the video's not over yet.

The scene changes to the young boy and a completely random dude sitting on a couch, the camera filming their conversation. Well, interview would be more appropriate.

"So, Steven, tell the viewers about yourself," the guy says.

As the Steven boy talks something clicks in my mind. I'm not alone!

Holy crap.

I grab my phone and call Naila. "Did you watch it?" She squeals, and I jerk the phone away from my ear.

"Yeah, wow. I mean like, what?" I say, totally at a loss for words.

"That monster thing at the start? You think its connected to the spider-bear thing?"

"Maybe," I reply, pondering. "What interested me more was how that skinny girl bubbled the gemstone."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," she says, pondering. "Do those gem-alien-people-whatever have like, magic powers?"

" 'any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,' " I quote. "To us, yeah."

"And does that mean you have magic powers?"

"I don't know! I only did a magic thing like, once!" I say, slightly annoyed. Despite my best efforts, I've never managed to do anything remotely magical since then.

"Yeah, that's true. Still, though. That Steven kid, he's like, a hybrid thing? You saw that gem, right?"

"Yeah, that's weird. I wonder if there's anyone else like him?" I say without thinking.

I hear Naila catch her breath. "Who knows? Anyway, I gotta go. I'm not supposed to have my phone right now," she says before hanging up. I'm pretty sure I detected a faint undertone of fear. That's… weird.

I stand up and look at myself in the mirror, grabbing my hand mirror and turning around to look at the gem on my neck. If there's someone else out there who's like me… does that mean there are more?

Just as I put my phone away it beeps again, Ara this time. She sent me the exact same video.

I call her too.

"You saw the video, right?" she asks me.

"Yeah, Naila just sent it to me. Do you think other weird human-gem hybrids could exist?"

"Definitely." She says after a long hesitation. "I'm sure there are tons more out there. Maybe at our schools? Anyone could be one. Even you?"

"I dunno. I haven't been able to do any magic since."

"Don't give up, I'm sure you'll do it again someday."

"I hope so."

"I have to go now, the rehearsal for my play's about to start. You'll come right?"

"Of course! Bye."

"Bye."

I barely get any sleep that night, questions tumbling around in my mind. By the time I need to get up in the morning, I've made a decision.

Carefully tiptoeing down the hall so as not to wake my parents, I start rummaging through the drawers in the bathroom until I find what I'm looking for- hair elastics. Thirty minutes and lots of trial-and-error later, I have finally succeeded in putting my hair up into a bun.

One nerve-wracking bus ride later, I walk into school with my gem fully visible and on display for anyone to see.

To my complete surprise, I find Peter wearing a non-turtleneck t-shirt for the first time in, well… forever. The neckline is just low enough to see the tip of a red and green gemstone on his neck. Jet is wearing a tank top (for the first time ever) and displaying a diamond-shaped black gem on his left shoulder. Naila arrives just after me (during the awkward staring stage) and I turn to see her wearing a crop-top and showing her navel gem, a round purple stone.

"You too, huh?" I say, breaking the awkward silence. We all break out laughing, and I find a few tears collecting at the corners of my eyes. "Well, now you know why I'm called Amber," I say, for the first time admitting it both to them and to myself.

"And why I go by Jet," Jet adds, gesturing to his stone.

"Call me Bloodstone," Peter declares. Why am I not surprised? We all turn to Naila, who's somehow turned shy when put on the spot.

"Amethyst," she says quietly, almost a whisper. "But I like Amy better."

"Sure, Amy," I reply with a laugh. Cue the emotional hugging. I'm squished so much I can barely breathe.

Looking around, I can see many other people with gemstones on display. Still some who don't though, and that's fine too. In fact, I notice at least two people in the process of emergency-DIYing their outfits to show their gemstones. I smile. Then I realize something. The friend groups haven't changed but each group seems to be either all human or all hybrid.

Before I can worry about discrimination, my phone buzzes. Quickly glancing around for any teachers, I pull it out. Arabella has sent me a photo of herself wearing a pretty light blue sundress, the neckline much lower than her usual collared shirt. I can see half of a round blue gem visible on her chest.

 **YOU TOO, HUH?** I reply, texting her a photo of my gemstone. **LIKE, EVERYONE AT SCHOOL HAS THEM.**

 **SAME AT MY SCHOOL,** she replies. **BUT NOT EVERYONE.**

 **NOT EVERYONE.**

?

I quickly show everyone the photo before putting my phone back in my pocket.

"C'mon," I say. "Magical revelations aside, there's still the english essay due tomorrow." Everyone groans, but the uplifting mood remains. For some reason, school feels so much easier, as though a weight has been lifted.

And in a sense, it has.

 **Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll post chapter two called A Helping Hand next Tuesday. Please feel free to review and give us feedback so we can improve the story.**


	3. Chapter 2: A Helping Hand

_Chapter 2: A Helping Hand_

"... _Reports of an unidentified wild animal attacking citizens near the Balrey Memorial Park. The park has been closed temporarily and all citizens are advised to stay clear of the area while police attempt to find the creature._ " I was half-listening to the TV as I ate my cereal (which is at least 50% sugar), but that particular report catches my attention. As I continue to watch, a blurry picture is shown of what appears to be a floating ball of ice, smaller shards hovering around it. Wild animal, they say. Suuuuuure. As more images flash across the screen, I notice one grainy close-up of a teardrop-shaped blue gem embedded in the ice.

"Amy!" I shriek over the phone the instant the pieces fall into place.

"Geez, take it easy on my eardrums. What's up?"

"Have you watched the news this morning?"

"I'm not allowed to watch TV for a month. Plus the news sucks, why were you even watching it? Oh, never mind, you're Amber… just tell me what you saw."

"My parents turned it on. You remember that bear-spider-thing, right? And how it had that blackish-purplish gemstone?"

"Yeah, how could I forget?"

"Well, there's something like it supposedly in Balrey Park. They had some photos, it looks like a big floating ball of ice. But it had a gem, Amy! A Gem!"

"Okay, this calls for major investigation."

"I'll start the group call. See ya."

I hang up to start the group call. I wonder if I should invite Ara. I'm not sure how well she would get along with my school friends, and after popping up in our group for the Mole's Mountain adventure I worry that Amy won't like having to share my attention.

I decide to call her anyway and ask her what she thinks.

The phone rings and goes to voicemail. Maybe next time.

I start the group call.

"Hey, guys. What's all this about?" Jet asks, clearly in the middle of breakfast.

"Amber's the nerd who watches the news, so she'll tell you," Amy says, and I can practically hear her smirk. I quickly relate the events of the morning news, and receive a squeal of excitement from Jet, and a whistle of appreciation from Bloodstone.

"Investigation!" Jet shrieks with glee, and I yank the phone away from my ear, not quite fast enough to spare my already-battered eardrums. Jet really is obsessed with mysteries.

"Yeah, I figured," I reply, unable to help my excited grin.

"Let's meet at the corner store near school," Bloodstone suggests. "It's only a few blocks from the park."

"Sounds good," Amy agrees. "Y'all in for some highly dangerous investigation?"

"Yeah!" Three voices reply in unison. I hang up and immediately rush out of my room. If I'm lucky, I won't even have to run.

"Where do you think you're going young lady?"

"Ugh, mom! C'mon, I'm fifteen, can't I go somewhere, without enduring a full-on interrogation first?"

"Not without telling me where you're going!" Mom retorts.

"Dad, could you explain to mother the importance of independence in teenagers?"

"Sorry kiddo, you're on your own on this one." He goes back to watching the news, unhelpful as always.

"So where are you going then?" My mom tries again.

"To…" I realize I need to come up with a suitable lie. There's no way I'm telling her about this magic stuff. I will not be responsible for her heart attack over my *ahem* "extracurricular activities".

"I'm going to Blo… Peter's house." I should probably refer to my friends by their human names too…

"Anyone else joining you two?" My mom has, fortunately, accepted that I have close male friends that aren't my boyfriends. The thing she doesn't get is that she should worry about my female friends too.

"Naila and Jeremy will be there too mom. Now can I please go? I'm gonna be late!"

"Ok fine, you can go. Just be home in time for dinner!" I quickly mutter my thanks and race out the door. Now I'll have to run.

Fifteen minutes later, completely out of breath from sprinting, I arrive at the corner store. Amy and Bloodstone are already there, and I can see Jet running this way, maybe two blocks down the street. That's strange, since Jet lives 2 minutes away from the park...

"So what's the plan?" Amy asks when I stop, out of breath. I wave off her question for a moment while I stand there panting, trying to regain my power of speech.

"Why am I supposed to have a plan?" I ask once I've stopped feeling like I'm about to throw up.

"Cause this was your idea in the first place," she retorts. I'm saved from having to speak by Jet's late arrival.

"What took you so long? Don't you live like, 2 minutes away?" I ask.

"Go delayed, sorry," Jet says, and it's clear that he won't be giving any more explanation.

"So, what's the actual plan?" Bloodstone asks, refusing to let me off the hook.

"Uh… Jet, you know how to do this stuff! You come up with a plan."

"Wait, me?!" Jet exclaims. I hate putting people on the spot like this, but I honestly have no idea what to do next. "Um… well, this is a standard reconnaissance mission. We'll have to sneak around the police barriers- shouldn't be too hard, if we go through one of the bordering backyards- and then we'll sneak in deeper, keeping to the shadows and always on the lookout. We never split up, 'cause that's always the start of a bad horror movie. And if- no, when we find what we're looking for, we stay out of sight and gather intel. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!" We reply in mock salute before breaking down in giggles.

"But seriously, let's get moving. The day's not getting any longer," Bloodstone adds. We take off in the direction of the park, easily dodging the police by cutting through one of the nearby properties. We're already breaking the rules, what's a few more?

"Where do you think it could be?" Amy whispers. We're currently crawling through a tiny tunnel in a thorny thicket. I wince as a thorn nicks my arm.

"My guess is somewhere near the center," I whisper back. "It's probably scared of the police force."

"Has anyone else noticed that none of the police were trying to come in here?" Bloodstone asks, trying and failing to gesture in the cramped space. "Isn't it their job to flush it out so they can capture it?"

"They're all just too scared to make a move," Jet answers. "Fear on both sides makes for an ugly final battle. Trust me, I know." I decide not to ask. A few minutes of silent crawling later, Jet announces, "We're here."

I crawl out of the tunnel to find a small clearing in the middle of the thorns, a small stone fire pit set in the exact center. Another, wider path leads out in the opposite direction.

"Whoa, cool place," Amy whispers upon exiting just behind me. "How'd you know this was here?"

"I used to come here whenever my sister was driving me crazy," Jet replies, keeping his voice low. "C'mon."

We continue through to the other path, edging our way along the narrow pathway as it zigzags down a steep, rocky hill. At the bottom is a small stream running along the valley, and we cross a makeshift bridge to the other side.

The deeper into the forest we get, the more lost we seem. I'm starting to wonder if we're ever going to find this thing. Despite the appearance of spring, winter chill is still in the air, making me wish I'd worn something more than a light sweater. Puddles from a recent storm are everywhere, mud soaking into my shoes with every step. We keep going, along the trail, and then off the trail and into the woods. The only good thing about the cold is that there aren't very many mosquitos. Still, it's frustrating, and only after what feels like hours do I notice that we're going in circles.

"Okay, do we have any idea where we're going?" I ask out loud, causing everyone to stop in their tracks. "Seriously. We have no idea where this thing is. It could be anywhere in this entire freaking park!" I shout, kicking a rock into the water.

"Amber…" Amy starts backing away, pointing at something behind me. I turn around to see the ice-monster-thing hovering only a few feet away.

"Seriously!?" I scream, dodging backwards as a barrage of deadly shards come flying at me. "What, I can't go five minutes without stumbling into the most cliche situation possible?"

"RUN!" Jet screams, and he leads the way continuing down the path, Bloodstone and Amy close behind, while I'm coming in last. I yelp as several more volleys of ice come dangerously close, and I don't notice when the others in front of me stop, causing me to barrel right into them.

"I'm sorry!" I shriek as all four of us go down an extremely steep hill, literally tumbling head over heels. I manage to get a footing, sliding down backwards on all fours while the ice ball floats after us. Jet is tumbling on his side, and Bloodstone seems to have found a way of leaping down headfirst. Amy is still tumbling head over heels, but as I watch she seems to gain more control over the spin, going from an uncontrollable descent to a fast somersaulting spin dash. A whitish-purple flame-like aura surrounds her, and she somehow turns and dashes back up the hill, slamming into the ice monster with enough force that it nearly sends me tumbling down again.

"How the hell did I do that?" She shouts out loud, landing next to me and following my example to slide along the slope.

"I dunno, but I get the feeling it's just getting started," I reply. The monster is clearly enraged, ice whirling faster and faster around it like a giant chainsaw blade.

Suddenly, the slope ends, and I stumble backwards into the waiting arms of Bloodstone. "Careful, Amber," he says, amused.

"Sorry," I say again. "Okay, new plan. We can't run from this thing, so we're gonna have to beat it."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jet asks, fear etched plainly on his face. "Giant floating ice ball of certain death? No way."

"Remember the giant purple bear-spider of certain death? Yeah, me too," I retort. "You guys saw what Amy did, and we all remember the spider-bear incident. I bet you anything it has something to do with our gems!"

"I bet you're right," Bloodstone declares. "I bet there's a way to beat that thing."

"Just for the record, I will sue you guys if I die here," Jet declares as we turn to face the monster. The ice sphere is advancing slowly, the whirling blade of ice audibly slicing through the air.

"On my mark, we go," I whisper. "Hit it with everything we've got." I receive an affirmative nod from the rest of the group. We wait, tense, as the creature approaches. Ten feet… five feet… three feet… "Now!"

We split into two groups, flanking it. Amy throws herself into a spin dash, ready to strike. I find myself with a sword in my hand, lunging right over the blades at the central monster. Bloodstone is sliding underneath the blades, his gem glowing and energy gathering between his hands. Jet is coming in from behind, aiming for a gap between the blades and wielding a glaive, about to stab it in the back. For a brief moment, time freezes in place.

My sword pierces the monster right in the eye. Jet's glaive stabs it right next to the nose. A searing beam of red energy shoots from Bloodstone's hands, shooting right through the monster and out the top. Amy slams into the side across from me, sending tiny splinters of ice everywhere. The monster shakes, ice shards flying everywhere-and then disappears in a puff of smoke.

"We did it!" Jet shrieks, jumping up and down with excitement. "Never doubted for a second." His glaive falls to the ground and promptly vanishes.

"How did we do it, though?" Amy asks, pulling ice and dirt out of her hair.

"I'm not completely sure," I admit, bending down to pick up the gem and bubble it. "But I think I know who might be able to help." I pick up my phone and call Ara again. This time she picks up.

"Hi Amber, sorry I missed your first call. I was at rehearsal," she says.

"Hi. Amy, Bloodstone, Jet, and I were in the park when we ran into…"

"The corrupted icy gem monster."

"How'd you know? And what's corrupted?"

"I'll tell you when you get here."  
"How'd you know I was going to ask if we could come?" Ara laughs.

"You guys should take the bus but hurry, It's almost there." With that she hangs up.

"Come with me," I tell my friends.

We almost miss the bus.

"... This is who you were talking about?" Amy remarks, unimpressed, as we're standing in Arabella's bedroom.

"I'll have you know that I'm half sapphire, and I know exactly what you're going to eat for dinner tonight. Frosted Flakes? Really? Be healthier than that," she replies. I'm glad she didn't mention those were my dinner plans too.

"That's cool!" Jet exclaims. "What's my future?"

"I foresee lots of excitement, and also saying my name wrong. Call me Sapphire," she replies.

"That's amazing," I remark. "How do you do that?"

"I'm not really sure," she admits. "It's like, I know what I'm looking for, and so I take the path towards my goal. If I can see along the path far enough, and determine which forks are the most likely to take, then I know what will happen. You get me?"

"Not really."

"It's like rivers flow into ponds and… oh well, maybe someday. So you're here because..." I hold up the freshly bubbled gem. "Yeah that."

"It was an ice monster trapped in Balrey Park," I explain. "We defeated it."

"Barely," Amy and Sapphire say at the same time. Amy glares at her.

"Sorry," Sapphire mutters.

"So now we need to figure out A. how we use our magic powers and B. what the gem monsters are," Bloodstone says.

"Well, A is pretty easy. Practice, practice, practice, although there will be a learning curve," she says. "B is a little trickier, but I think I might be able to help." In a single fluid motion she pulls out her laptop and opens it, typing furiously into google. "There we go."

We crowd around the computer, watching as multiple online newspapers come up. Each one has at least one article, be it recent or years old, involving a magical gem monster. All of them seem to share a common thread- A gem monster wanders into an inhabited area, and starts attacking people. Eventually the police drive it away, but they are never captured.

One article, a more scientific paper, theorizes that the monsters were random gemstones that were either struck by lightning or imbued with chemicals, causing them to become sentient. That may not be too far off.

"Hmm. Interesting," Sapphire mutters.

"What?"

"It appears that there was an article that was deleted less than a minute after its posting. Give me a minute…" I watch, fascinated, as she starts furiously typing code and at the same time navigating multiple internet websites. Less than a minute later, the deleted article pops up on screen.

"Whoa. How'd you do that?" Jet asks, clearly fascinated.

"Future vision. Also multiple online coding classes," she replies. Amy glares at her even harder, but Sapphire pretends not to notice. "Guys, check this out."

I lean over to read the article. Some girl had actually spent weeks tracking a gem monster to a place called Beach City, where the three Crystal Gems and Steven (although they just called him 'the young boy' in this) fought and defeated the gem. She carefully noted how they bubbled the gem, and wrote down a lot of theories on it. One in particular catches my attention: She thinks that they might be of the same species as the Crystal Gems, only they've been "corrupted"(a term directly from her brief interview with the Gems) and have basically gone insane. She also had some insight into the gems themselves- she'd obviously done her research. Apparently their entire being is in their gemstones, their physical forms nothing more than projections made of solid light.

"No," Sapphire states. "We're real, not just made of light."

"How did you…" Amy stops herself and rolls her eyes.

"We're not fully gems," I say, putting the pieces together. "We're hybrids like Steven. Half human, half gem."

"You mean half alien," Bloodstone says, and not in a laughing way either. Instead of every scene from every relatable movie ever, where the main characters start freaking out and/or jumping for joy at the idea of being part alien, a heavy silence falls over the group.

"Well, I should probably get going," Jet mutters after a few tense moments of silence. Everyone starts murmuring agreements and making their way out.

"Amber," Sapphire grabs my arm before I can leave. "One more thing." she leans in and whispers in my ear "don't eat Frosted Flakes for dinner. Or at least don't eat five bowls of the stuff. You'll be sick all night long,".

I keep her advice in mind as I continue out the door. The boys are long gone, but Amy is waiting for me outside.

"Oh hey, Amy. What's up?" I ask, trying to move past her.

"Amber… am I your best friend?" The question catches me totally off guard.

"Well, yeah, obviously," I say, trying to come up with the right response.

"Even better than Sapphire?" Oh, god.

"Look, I can't deal with this right now. If you have a problem with Sapphire, talk to her about it." I finally manage to force my way past her and sprint off in the direction of my house.

Crap, how did it all go so wrong so fast?

"Okay. We're literally aliens. I'm fine with this," Jet says, pacing in circles in front of me. "I'm fine with this. This is awesome. It's supposed to be awesome."

"Remember the whole awesome magic powers thing?" Bloodstone smirks. "Yeah, me too. Maybe focus on the good, not the bad?"

The three of us are sitting outside before school, not quite willing to enter the cursed building just yet.

"Hey, has anyone seen Amy?" I ask, looking around. "She's usually here by now."

"Nope," Bloodstone replies, mostly preoccupied with placating Jet. "Text her."

I take his advice and shoot Amy a quick text- **HEY WHERE R U?**

It takes her less than thirty seconds to respond. **ALREADY INSIDE. I TOOK THE BACK ENTRANCE. DONT TALK TO ME.** I decide not to pry.

"She went on without us. I'd suggest we give her some space for now, but after school I'm totally getting to the bottom of this." I shove my phone into my back pocket. "May as well get the rest of this day over with."

After school, I make a point of waiting outside for Amy. I have to literally grab her and pull her aside as she tries to ignore me.

"Look," I say, putting on my best serious face. "I don't know what your deal is, but you shouldn't just avoid people like that. Would you like me to lend you several lengthy books about social relationships?"

"No, that won't be necessary," she replies quickly. "It's nothing. I'm being stupid." She tries to leave again, but I grab her arm with an iron grip.

"Just spit it out. Whatever it is, secrets don't stay hidden."

She gives a sigh and relaxes slightly. I release my grip and she doesn't bolt, which is a good sign. "I just…" she pauses, then rushes to continue. "I'm your best friend, right? Better than Sapphire?"

I try to keep calm, but internally I'm panicking. _Mustavoidawkwardnessmustfindalternativesolution-_

"When did this become about me?" I retort, crossing my arms. "Like I said, if you have a problem with Sapphire, talk to her about it."

Amy's shoulders slump in defeat. "You like her better than me, don't you. You think I'm just a nuisance."

"No, that's not what I meant at all!" I reply hastily. "You're totally my best friend… but she's my best friend too. You just have to accept that."

Her tone is bitter as she spits out "You just hate me, don't you? She's useless! All her fancy future vision and I bet she can't even fight. Fine, then. See if I care. Say whatever you want, but you better choose someone fast. The _future_ depends on it." She spits out the word future as if it's poison in her mouth. I don't have time to comment on her strange remark before she leaves, blending into the crowd of students like a needle in a haystack.

Slightly shaken from the encounter, I pull out my phone as I start walking home.

 **SAPPHIRE,** I start to type, then shake my head and delete it. I don't need to dump my problems on her.

Then again, she probably already knows.

Instead, I send out a mass text to everyone in my immediate friend group. **MEETING AT MY PLACE, ASAP.**

 **Author's Note: Yes, I know this is a cheesy plot, but it's definitely something that all teenage girls can relate to.. Don't worry as it will be resolved by chapter 4. I hope you're enjoying the story so far, in the next chapter we'll introduce some Rivals(which happens to be the title!)**

 **Please review!**


	4. Chapter 3: Rivals

_Chapter 3: Rivals_

"So, I'm sure you're wondering why we're all here," I begin, facing the four half-gems currently crammed onto my couch. "And I'm sure that you all have some idea of what we're discussing," I continue.

"No duh," Bloodstone remarks. I ignore him.

"At this point in time, we seem to be the only half-gems out there who are willing to battle these corrupted gem monsters," I say, "despite the fact that a good third of the people at our school that I can see are part gem. So that means all the responsibility falls to us."

"Okay, are you saying we're gonna be a superhero squad?" Amy asks, a dubious expression on her face. "Cause I'm cool with that, but this would seriously complicate things." Somehow we've all moved passed the being alien part to fight the monsters.

"No," I quickly assure her. "What I mean is that we have no idea when one of these things will show up. We've seen that normal authorities can usually keep them under control, at least temporarily, but there is always the possibility that one of them will find us, or vice versa. So we need to be ready to defend ourselves."

"More magic power stuff? Count me in!" Jet declares, fist pumping the air. "I totally want to do that cool thing with the glaive again."

"Hey, how come you and Amber are the only ones who have weapons?" Bloodstone asks, bitter and playful at the same time.

"That's the whole point of my suggestion, which I would say if people didn't keep interrupting me!" I say, looking deliberately at Bloodstone. "I think that we should start training at least once a week, so that whenever we need to fight again, we'll be ready."

"I second that," Sapphire immediately agrees. "And don't worry, you have a weapon Bloodstone," she smiles at him then adds, "you too Amy." Bloodstone gives a thumbs up, Jet is so excited he almost forgets to agree. Amy is the only one left sitting there, deep in her thoughts.

"Amy? What do you think?" I prompt, trying to forget our awkward encounter earlier. I'm grateful that Amy is momentarily ignoring it as well, at least for now.

"Hmm? Yeah, yeah, totally," she replies, giving a thumbs-up. I notice Sapphire shoving herself a little farther back into the couch cushions, but decide not to mention it.

"Alright. Today is Thursday, so I'm thinking we head over to Balrey Park and maybe do some training today, and we can meet up here again tomorrow, you know… cause it's Friday and no one's busy then. Sound good?"

Everyone agrees, and we head off in the direction of Balrey Park.

Amy glares at Sapphire through the entire walk through the park. Sapphire never looks back at her except for when Amy isn't looking. I find this obvious use of her power annoying but I know she can't help it. I don't even know what Sapphire is mad at Amy about, she doesn't know what Amy said about her after school today. She can't see the past right? Somehow the boys have caught on to the tension, so Bloodstone tries to talk to Sapphire while Jet makes a desperate attempt to cool Amy down. I just wish they would stop fighting. Aren't we supposed to be a team?  
"Stop," Sapphire halts suddenly. "Don't move a muscle."

"By talking you just..." Amy's snide remarks are interrupted when the ground starts to shake and a giant monster appears. The snake like creature drools saliva but when the green drops hit the ground they sizzle and smoke.

"What did I just say," Sapphire snarls coldly. I feel an actual chill run down my spine.

"We don't have time for that Sapphire," I say matter-of-factly.

"She started… BLOODSTONE DUCK!" Bloodstone ducks just in time to avoid being melted alive and in his fear summons a gauntlet.

"Cool," he mutters. I jump on to the the creature and my sword slips from my neck to my hand and I slash violently at the creature from it's back.

"No, get down!" Sapphire screeches so I slide off and fall into Amy's arms. I see what Sapphire meant as the creature spits on to it's back where I was just seconds ago. "Jet stab it in the stomach while it's distracted," when he hesitates she adds, "Quick if we don't finish it off quickly… just finish it off!"

"What do you mean? What will happen?" Amy snorts as Jet moves in. He's to late, he hesitated too long and the opening is gone.

"I don't have time to explain, just all use your powers on it!" I pull out my sword, "Wait, not you Amber!" Sapphire looks so frightened. I've never seen her like this.

"Why should I listen to you?" Amy screams.

"No no no, this is what I was afraid of!"

"What are you talking abo…" A scream sounds as a girl with a red gem on her leg jumps on the back of the snake like creature and summons a whip which the scarily aggressive girl uses to strangle the monster. A boy with a pink gem on the back of his hand then slices some of its legs off with a large broadsword. A skinny girl with a round white gem on her back hits the creatures gem with a staff before a large girl with a round white and blue gem on her forehead poofs the monster by punching its gem with her gauntlet. The gem cracks. A boy with a pale blue gem on his neck comes out from behind a tree to bubble the cracked gem. Amy growls and I see two daggers appear in her hands. I'm not sure she noticed them appear.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bloodstone says. "That's ours."

"No, I believe we beat the monster," the boy with the light blue gem states.

"Who are you?" Jet sneers.

"Ruby," says the girl with the red gem while putting away her whip.

"Zircon," says the boy with the light blue gem. Pearl is the girl with the white one and Spinel is the boy with the pink gem.

"Moonstone," says the girl with the round white and blue gem. Only Sapphire doesn't recognize her. Moonstone is our head cheerleader, originally by the name of Brittney. I scoff at how cliche the name Brittney is for popular girls. I feel a cold spot on my back. Sapphire's hand is freezing cold and I realize the chill earlier was her doing. Something is freaking her out and I don't know why.

"Nice to see you again _Brittney._ " Jet hisses. She shoots him a smirk, ignoring him calling her the wrong name. What did I miss?

"What are you doing here?" Bloodstone changes the subject.

"Saving your ass it looks like," Pearl chuckles.

"We would have been just fine without you, we can handle these gems!" I shout at them. I hate it when people take credit for the things I do.

"Maybe, but we finished it off much more quickly than you could've," Spinel says.

"How would you know? You don't know how well we fight, you don't know us," I scream. I can't standstand these popular kids who take credit for everything and never do the work themselves!

"We've seen enough," Zircon states.

"What do you even want?" Bloodstone grumbles.

"The same thing you do." Moonstone replies. "And you four would find it in your best interest to stay out of our way."

"Wait they have a fifth member. Who's that?" Ruby sneers, pointing at Sapphire, who shrinks in my shadow and whimpers.

"Why is she hiding?" Spinell adds maliciously, moving to Moonstone's side.

"What are you doing?" I ask Sapphire.

"I know too much," she cries. Amy rolls her eyes.

"She's weak," Pearl deadpanned.

"She didn't even use any weapons before we took over," Zircon says seriously.

"Neither did you!" I shoot back. His mouth curves into a crooked smile.

"I beat she can't even summon one," Spinell says.

"She's useless," Moonstone spits.

"That's really mean," Jet says.

"You don't even know her!" I scream.

"You're right," Amy snarls at Sapphire, a fresh wave of tears appear. Had she seen this? "She's a useless waste of space. I don't even know why we let her in the group. All she does is sit there while we battle and gives us useless tips. How can she know how to fight if she never does?" Sapphire runs so quickly away it's like she teleported. I didn't know she had that power either either.

"What are you waiting for? GO!" I shout at Amy, who looks so startled that she doesn't even reply before running off. I go to follow her, but Ruby is in my way.

"Where do you think you're going?" she smirks.

"We aren't done with you just yet," Moonstone says. "Don't even think about running away, there's five of us and one of you."

"What the hell do you need me for?"

"Since you seem slightly more competent than those brats I think you can give your little friends a message. Stay out of our way. These corrupted gems are ours." Moonstone responds.

"You can't make me."

"Oh yes I can _Alice,_ " she spits the last word. "I can make your life at school a living hell."

"The name's Amber," I say, and make a run for it. I'm not followed.

We search for a long time but I can't find her, not even a trace. I hear footsteps behind me and think Sapphire has found me but it's Amy. I really don't want to see her.

"I didn't mean it, it was just a joke. She shouldn't have been so sensitive," Amy says. I don't accept her fake apology.

"Go away. I really don't want to see you right now."

"Amber…" I hold up my hand. "I-I'm still your best friend right?" I don't have the patience to respond and simply continue my search.

I know I'm getting closer when I start to feel cold, but I worry because I can't hear anything. I see a cluster of large ice crystals sprouting out of the ground in a dome-like shape. Sapphire must be inside.

"Sapphire! Come out please!" I beg. "Don't believe what she said, I'm sure she didn't mean it." Another spike forms, forcing me a step back.

"She meant exactly what she said," a low voice I don't remember hearing from my friend echos within her ice bubble.

"We do need you Sapphire, those others don't understand what you do, they don't know us well enough to know."

"You don't get it!"

"Get what?"

"They're right! I can't summon a weapon and no matter how hard I try or how far into the future I look I can't see myself having one! Ever!"

"You have so many other powers. So what if you don't have a weapon, you don't need one!"  
"Just go away."  
"No, I won't. I'll sit here all day if I have too." And I do. After what feels like forever but my phone says was only 10 minutes the ice melts away and Sapphire brushes dust off her dress.

"Sapphire!" I try to give her a hug.

For a few seconds she lets me and then pushes me away, muttering "I have to go." She is gone before I can stop her. Just as she's out of sight Bloodstone and Jet join me.

"Did you find her?" Bloodstone asks. I nod.

"She was here just a second ago, but she wouldn't talk to me. I think she knew you were coming so she left." I wish she trusted me like she used to. I take out my phone to text her.

 **SAPPHIRE, ARE YOU OK?**

She doesn't respond. I try again 30 minutes later.

 **WE'RE ALL STILL MEETING AT MY PLACE TOMORROW RIGHT?**

 **DO YOU WANT TO MOVE THE MEETING TO YOUR HOUSE?**

 **PLEASE RESPOND. I'M WORRIED ABOUT YOU.**

After four texts and 4 hours I call. 8 times. I know she had her phone because the last three ended before the phone had enough time to ring once. I give up and go to sleep. I'll try again tomorrow.

At school I try to avoid Amy but she catches me at lunch. When she sits at my table I don't shoo her away. I don't talk to her either. Jet and Bloodstone remain silent as well when they join us at the table.

"Are we still on for practice today?" Jet asks, trying to relieve the tension.

"Yeah," I say.

"Meet at your place and then go to the park again right?" Amy adds. I nod coldly. "Is she…" I shoot Amy a glare. She excuses herself to the bathroom.

"Is Sapphire coming though?" Jet asks.

"I don't know. She won't answer my texts or calls."

"What are we going to do about her?" Bloodstone asks.

"I don't know okay, she's the one with the future vision, not me! Stop expecting me to know everything!" I scream, but only loud enough for them to hear. I get up to leave and feel two hands on my back.

"Stay?" Jet says.

"A broken team can't fix any problems," Bloodstone adds. I hear him cringing to finish that line.

"You're right, we expect so much of you, but it's only because you're the strongest," Jet says.

"I'm no…"

"Yes you are," Bloodstone cuts me off. "You've had the most practice and excelled past us. But that doesn't mean we should think you're perfect."

"All leaders have flaws," Jet adds.

"I'm the leader?" I realize we've never actually declared a leader.

"Of course, you are, you're the one who brought us all together."

I'm… the leader? I never thought I'd be in this position. I mean, I'm always picked close to last for sports, and that's the only thing I can think of that would have a leadership position. Don't even get me started on the popularity rankings- oh shoot, now I share a title with Moonstone! It just doesn't make sense… but in a way, it kinda does.

If I'm supposed to be the leader, then I need to act like one.. I need to be the diplomat, the glue that holds the team together. I have to give answers when they need them, and also know when to ask for help. And above all else, I need to know what the team needs. And I do know.

We need me.

And Bloodstone.

And Jet.

And Amy.

And Sapphire.

All of us. Not two, not three, and not four. Us means all 5 of us. 5 is what makes a team.

Ugh that sounds soo cheesy.

As I finish my train of thought, Amy comes back from the bathroom. I know what to do.

"Listen," I tell her, "I'm not saying what you did was okay, but you're still a part of this team and we need you. But we also need Sapphire, and you have to make peace with her if this team is going to succeed." Amy just nods. The rest of the day passes in relative peace.

After school, at my house, we're indulging in home-baked cookies before our next training session. Even if Amy and Sapphire aren't speaking to each other, at least they're not fighting. That's a step forward.

Wait, Sapphire actually showed up?

"Sapphire, how're you doing?" I ask quietly, sitting next to her.

"I'm fine," she says, but I can feel a chilling aura surrounding her.

"You're not fine," I say, placing a hand on her ice-cold shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it in private?"

"I said I'm fine," she replies, ice forming on her arms and on the couch. I frown but decide it might be best to give her some space. It's a miracle she showed up at all.

"So, are we going to the same park today?" Bloodstone asks after finishing his 3rd cookie.

"Yeah, probably," I say. "But there's something I wanted to discuss first."

"Go on," Amy says, intrigued. Everyone finds a seat somewhere around my living room.

"As an official monster-fighting gem-hybrid team, we should officially vote on a leader."

"C'mon Amber, you already know who we'd pick," Jet says. "All in favor of Amber being leader?" He raises his hand expectantly.

Bloodstone immediately follows suit, and Sapphire is quick to join. Amy raises her hand almost immediately after Sapphire.

"Well, It's unanimous then," Bloodstone says, grinning ear to ear. "Now let's get going, shall we?"

"Hey I didn't vote!" I say, laughing with everyone else. Take that Sapphire, I made you laugh. "Can you even vote for yourself?"

"Sure you can," Sapphire says, daring anyone to challenge her. Nobody does, not even Amy, though she looks like she wants to.

"Alright, now that that's settled-"

"Hold it." Amy stands up. I frown, but don't respond. The room literally gets colder. I see Sapphire sitting perfectly still, ice crawling up her arms. "I have an issue we need to solve. Amber, you need to make a decision. You know what I'm talking about."

I freeze. Did she not listen to a single word I said? How would a leader handle this? How can I make this work for everyone?

I can't. But at least I can try.

"Look, Amy, I understand you're upset. But that's not something that really needs to be discussed right now." I'm putting my foot down(figuratively).

"Hey everybody let's go to the park now!" Jet tries to sound enthusiastic but I can tell the literal chill in the room is getting to him, even if he doesn't understand what's going on.

When we get to the park we assign each other numbers, 1 through five, we then ask siri on Bloodstone's phone to pick two numbers, 1 through five, and those people have to battle. Or at least try. Since none of us know how to actually use our powers on command the battles look a lot like watching two constipated people try and poop. Not that I would know what that looks like…

"Sapphire," I whisper while Jet jumps up and down trying to get his glaive whilst Bloodstone stares at his hands, "who's next? I hope it's me."

"Alas, I cannot read siri's mind. There are too many possibilities since it's random." Amy glares at her.

"So Amber," Amy says, completely ignoring sapphire, "Think they're gonna actually do anything soon?"

I look down at the two boys, who are still basically just standing there.

"I doubt it."

After a few more minutes of staring at the timer, I get up and shout, "Alright boys! Out of time! Let's see who's next." We gather around Bloodstone's phone.

"Ok siri," he says, "choose two numbers, 1 through 3."

"1 and 3," siri's robotic female voice doesn't understand the importance of what she just said. She just said that Sapphire will be sparring Amy. I curse under my breath.

"Ok then," I say, trying to hide my dismay. "Take your places?" Frost forms around Sapphire's fingers, while Amy looks ecstatic.

"Let's raise the stakes a little," she says. "How about we fight with a motive? I win, you admit that I'm Amber's best friend and leave the group. You win, I give you Amber. Sound fair?" Sapphire clenches her mouth shut.

"What, you chicken?" Amy taunts.

"Amy stop," I tell her. "This isn't important or productive, you're just asking for me to hurt someone!"

"I'll do it," Sapphire says. "But if I win, you have to admit that I'm the better friend, and I get to be official second in command."

"C'mon, let's not go too far here-" my attempt to stabilize the situation goes completely unnoticed as the two shake hands.

"Let's do it!" Amy smiles, her face plastered with a sickening grin that makes me nauseated. How could they do this? Sapphire must know she doesn't stand a chance. Knowing I can't stop it, I grab each of the boys by the arm and drag them a safe distance away before the fight begins.

Amy immediately spins and charges right for Sapphire, who dodges easily. She screams on her next attempt, but again rolls right past her. Sapphire smiles. Amy pulls out her daggers and rolls again, a ball with spikes. Sapphire dodges the first time, but then she suddenly comes crashing to the ground, her gem glowing wildly and her eyes completely blank. Amy seizes the opportunity and comes to a stop right above her, daggers ready.

"Do it," Sapphire dares her, knowing tears in her eyes. "Just get it over with." Suddenly I worry about my friend. She sounds almost as if she wants to die. I don't think for a second that Amy would actually hurt her but at the same time I don't want to risk it.

"No!" I scream. I can't bear to watch anymore. I run down the hill and place myself between them, refusing to see anyone else get hurt. "I can stop all of this right now. Stop fighting for one second. I'll tell you what you want to know."

Amy backs up a few feet, her daggers vanishing. Sapphire stands up cautiously, more uncertain than I've ever seen her since she revealed she had future powers. I know that what I'm about to do will tear the group apart, but letting them continue would be even worse.

"I'll answer your question."

 **Author's note: Sorry about the cliffhanger but in the next chapter Oh How The Tides Have Turned we promise to pick up right where we left off and Amber will answer the question. Also, a new character will be introduced in the next chapter! I hope you aren't to upset by the cheesy plot, it will be mostly resolved in the next chapter. Please follow and review!**


	5. Chapter 4: Oh How the Tides Have Turned

_Chapter 4: Oh How the Tides Have Turned_

"I'll answer your question."

Two pairs of eyes look at me expectantly, while the boys stand on the sidelines, confused. I ignore them and continue. I want to say my best friend is both of them like they do in the movies but I know the fighting won't stop until I give them the truth. So I will, I'll hand them the truth on a silver platter with my head as a side dish.

"You both have to promise me that you aren't going to leave the team if it's not you, because I do need you both. Pinky swear," I say. They both mutter _this is stupid_ under their breath but then they both vow it and we interlock our pinkies. Sapphire and Amy are actually quite similar. In a different universe I think they could be friends. Even with the vow I'm still worried about what is about to happen.

"M-my best… my best friend is Sapphire... b-but that doesn't mean you aren't one of my best friends, Amy!" I've known Sapphire since I was a baby. How can I not choose her?

Both of them are completely frozen, but after a moment of tense waiting Sapphire is the first to thaw. Literally. I quickly try to keep the inevitable outburst at bay by saying "You are my best friend too Amy, you both are my best friends, that is only my choice when you do this to me! When you try to hurt each other over me and force me to make a decision I didn't want to make!" I suddenly realise that I'm crying now from all the pressure.

"So that's how it is," Amy says coldly, completely ignoring my emotional display.

"Did you not hear anything I said but 'Sapphire'?!" I yell, my throat sore and my voice raspy from crying.

Amy summons her daggers.

"You promised!" I scream.

"I never said I wouldn't fight," Amy turns to Sapphire, who pushes me out of the way as I try to intervene.

"This isn't your fight, Amber," Sapphire whispers.

Amy charges, and for a minute it seems like a repeat of the last battle. No matter how hard Amy tries, she can't seem to land a hit on Sapphire. And I'm just standing on the sidelines the entire time, helpless to stop them, unable to save them from themselves.

Amy finally manages to land a hit, but Sapphire saw it coming- her entire arm is coated in ice, blocking the powerful double blow; even so the ice cracks and I know Sapphire felt something. The shockwave from the impact vibrates through the ground, and I watch as the twin daggers bounce back and turn on their wielder, slicing across Amy's cheek.

Sapphire is frozen, petrified, and seems rooted to the spot as Amy stumbles back, her daggers turning to dust as they fall from her hands.

"What the hell am I doing," she mutters. "None of this matters anyway." As she turns to walk away Jet, Bloodstone, and I run after her.

"You promised you wouldn't leave!" I shout, exasperated.

"I'm going home. But I'll be back for our next meeting. I trust you'll text me when that is." Her voice is cold and emotionless, completely monotone. And with that she turns into a ball to roll home. I wait until she's out of sight, but then I can't take it anymore. I collapse and let myself cry, my entire body shaking. Two warm hands and a cold one rest on my back; soon all three are warm.

"Don't cry," Jet says softly, not at all his usual cheerful self.

"You did the only thing you knew how to do," Bloodstone adds calmingly.

"She means it," Sapphire says, "She will be back and in time, either two weeks, 1 month, 7 weeks, 2 and half months, or 3 months from now, this won't matter anymore."

"Thanks, guys," I murmur. "You're the best." I wipe the last of my tears from my eyes and stand up. "I think that's more than enough training for today."

Once again, it's Monday. I've been hiding in my room all weekend, but now it's back to the house o' torture once more. School seems so boring now that we literally fight monsters in our free time. But to be honest, I think it's kinda nice to get a break from all that gem stuff. Just be normal for a bit.

"Hey, Amber," Jet says with an enthusiastic smile, trying to lighten the mood as I sit down at our lunch table. "How's life?"

"You know, stuff," I say, refusing to give more of an answer. To be honest, I've been a complete emotional wreck all weekend. I totally blame myself for everything even though I know that I shouldn't and Sapphire wouldn't want me to. But then there's-

"Hey, has anyone seen Amy?" I ask, looking around. It feels exactly like a repeat of last week.

"Yeah, she's in my math class," Jet says. "She wouldn't talk to me, though."

I sigh and slump down on the table. "Why does being an official leader have to be so hard…!"

"Haven't you ever read a book?" Bloodstone says, not looking up from his drawing. "Leadership is never easy. That's why in all the good stories, the protagonist surrounds themself with close friends who can help them."

"Yeah, well, too bad real life isn't like a story," I say, staring at my uneaten lunch. "You know, I'm not really hungry." I shove it across the table to Jet, who happily eats the unwanted food.

"Hey, guys," I hear a voice behind me. Turning, I see Amy standing behind me, looking nervous. She sits as far from me as possible, which I understand, and refuses to talk no matter how many times we try to start a conversation. I wonder why she would sit with us and then realize the sad truth. No matter how mad she is at me she has no one else. Of course she'd rather sit with an enemy than alone, I would too. I would feel bad for her if I wasn't glad she was sitting here.

"Look, Amy," I say, refusing to give up. "I understand you're feeling upset right now and you need some time to adjust but you can't keep ignoring us forever."

"Says who?" she stands up and leaves. I give a sigh.

"Well, it was worth a shot," Bloodstone remarks.

A few minutes of awkward silence and stilted conversation later, a completely random stranger walks up to our table.

"Jeremy!" He says, walking up to Jet. "Good to see you bro!"

"Jonathan!" Jet exclaims. "What are you doing here? And it's Jet, you know that." The boy, Jonathan, laughs.

"I just moved here, I wanted to surprise you!"

"Sit please," Jet offers him a seat. "Amber, Bloodstone, this is my friend from camp, Jonathan."

"Hi, I'm Bloodstone," Bloodstone shakes Jonathan's hand.

"That's a strange name. Wait a minute, are you guys hybrids like that dude in the youtube video? You totally are! That's so cool! Jet, how come you never told me?"

"Same reason as everyone else I guess," Jet replies. "I thought everyone would think I was weird. But now almost everyone I know turns out to be one too, and it's freaking awesome!" He grins. "Not that I have anything against normal humans and all that. No offense."

"None taken," he says, then turns pointedly in my direction.

"Hi I'm Amber," I wave, Jonathan smiles at me.

"You must be the leader if you have two guys following you around." Bloodstone and Jet both blush, I don't allow myself to.

Jonathan and Jet chat like best friends the rest of lunch. I'm worried he'll want to join our group. It's not that he seems awful, just that he's only human and that means he could get hurt if he follows us around too much. He doesn't seem the type to play by the rules…

"Hey, you still there?" Jonathan asks as we start heading to our next classes.. "You've barely said anything all day."

"You mean, the past half hour," I correct him. "I just have a lot of stuff going on outside school."

"Yeah, I know how that is," he laughs. "I've spent the past month or so trying to fit school and homework in with packing and moving and everything. It's the worst possible time of year to move, but what you gonna do, you know?" He looks away for a moment, blushing. "Well, I'll see you around."

"See ya," I wave as he turns down the hall towards whatever form of torture is next. Speaking of which, I'm almost late for my next class, and I really don't want to get detention.

It's been exactly three weeks now, and Amy still hasn't shown up. I guess I might be waiting a whole month after all. That's what Sapphire said, anyway.

We have another training session today-we've been having them every week, sometimes twice. Sapphire's gotten better with her ice powers, and Jet has been able to summon his glaive a few times. I've gotten better with my sword, too, and Bloodstone has been able to use his gauntlet twice, which is way less than Jet. He doesn't seem to care about that though- he's quite content to destroy things with lasers.

"She still hasn't texted you" Jet asks, noticing my worried frown as I stare at my phone. "You shouldn't sweat it so much. I bet she'll come soon."

"Not according to Sapphire," I mutter, shoving my phone back in my pocket. "But you're right, I shouldn't get so distracted." I pull out my sword and slice through the nearest dead log we've been using as targets. Jet steps back a few paces.

"Alright then," he says, then bolts in the opposite direction. I sigh and go back to taking out my frustration on lifeless chunks of wood.

"Are you sure there's no possibility she could come back sooner?" I ask Sapphire, who's mostly just been sitting on the sidelines.

"Positive," she says, but I can see a few icicles forming around her feet. I don't bother prying further.

Suddenly, Amy comes running out of the woods, daggers in hand. "Run for it!" she shrieks, and it takes me less than a second to figure out why. A huge gem monster is following her, almost perfectly resembling a hyena if it weren't for the boar-like head and massive fangs. Sapphire curses under her breath.

"I was afraid of this…" Sapphire mutters before shouting "Everyone! We can't run from it, its too fast! We have to attack it from all sides at once!"

"You heard her!" I confirm, dashing down to meet the monster, sword at the ready. The monster, not used to being attacked in close quarters, thrashes around and hits anything that gets close to it.

"Don't get too close!" Sapphire shouts from the sidelines. I back up a bit and try to hit it from behind, launching myself to stab it in the side. Unfortunately, the beast moves out of the way at the last second, and I barely graze it.

"Watch where you're going!" Amy shouts, and I realize I've nearly landed on top of her.

"Sorry, sorry-" I try to apologize, but she's off again before I can finish.

"Take it down fast! Strike while it's weak!" Sapphire chants, fear showing in her tone. I wonder what she's worried about- we've all gotten stronger, we can totally beat this thing-

I leap backwards as one giant paw nearly lands on top of me, and I immediately lash out, only to be thrown back by a kick from the beast.

It's only now that I realize just how bad our situation is. The boys are mostly sticking together, Jet fending it off while Bloodstone hits it from afar. Sapphire is a safe distance away, shouting out strategy, and Amy-

"Amy watch out!" Sapphire and I scream at the same time as a giant tail sweeps the stunned girl into the air. I try to get up, but a searing pain in my side keeps me down. I can only watch as Sapphire, with incredible speed, zooms across the field to catch her, raising a wall of ice to fend off the monster's next attack. It's completely focused on them now, fortunately not noticing me on the opposite hill, injured and vulnerable.

I'm astounded as Sapphire, determination in her cold eyes, coats the entire monster in ice while still carrying Amy in her arms, cradling her like a baby. Sharp points press inwards, forcing the monster to poof and leaving behind a striped gemstone. Sapphire sets Amy on her feet.

"That was amazing! How did you catch her… oh right, future vision!" Jet says, picking up the gemstone and walking over to Sapphire. Bloodstone, being more considerate, helps me make my way over.

"I-its nothing…" Sapphire says, blushing. "You guys did all the work."

"You totally saved me," Amy says, staring at her with a look I can't quite place.

"I barely did anything," she insists. Jet hands me the gem, which I bubble and send back home.

"You did amazing, Sapphire." I say. She turns to look at me with a smile, which falls into an expression of concern when she sees I'm struggling to stand.

"Amber! Are you alright? What happened?" She immediately goes to support my other side.

"I'm fine, just took a nasty kick from that thing," I say, doing my best to smile despite the pain. "I might have broken a few ribs."

"That's it, we're taking you home right now. Better yet, straight to the hospital," she declares, acting very mother hen-ish for some reason. "You too, Amy. That wrist does not look good." I just now notice Amy's broken wrist, which is hanging at an angle that really shouldn't be possible.

"Really, guys, I'm fine," I assure them. "We heal way faster than most people, remember?"

"...I do see many futures in which you both heal within a week," Sapphire admits. "But only if you rest properly."

"We don't really want to get anyone else involved here," Jet points out, "Especially not our parents."

"I agree with Jet," I say quickly, and we're all looking at Sapphire.

"Alright, but you're both coming to my house tonight. Just in case. Good thing it's Friday." I look over at Amy, afraid that she'll argue and fight with Sapphire again, but she just stares at her and nods.

"If you guys are having a sleepover then Bloody and I are too!" Jet exclaims.

" _Bloody?_ " Bloodstone gags. " _Never_ call me that again." Everyone laughs, even Bloodstone.

"Don't worry, it won't happen again," Jet says, grinning.

An hour later I knock on the door to Sapphire's house with my backpack of sleepover stuff, which I'd sneakily gathered by climbing through my bedroom window so my parents wouldn't notice my very obvious injury. It was painful, but I managed.

I hear laughing before the door opens. Sapphire smiles as she invites me in, and immediately takes my bag from me. As she rushes off to put it in her room I notice Amy on the couch, her wrist tightly bound in some sort of medical cloth. She got here before me. Does that mean Sapphire had been laughing with her?

When Sapphire comes back she wraps a larger bandage-like thingy around my stomach. I hadn't even realized I was bleeding there. After that we chat like good friends. Neither Amy nor Sapphire seems to be upset at the other. We watch movies, eat dinner, play board games and for these moments it's like three weeks ago never happened.

We're supposed to have gone to bed an hour ago but instead we stay up talking. Then I suggest we play truth or dare.

"I'll go first," Sapphire says.

"Truth or dare?" Amy asks her.

"Truth."

"What's the most embarrassing thing that is going to happen to one of us in the next 24 hours?" Amy asks.

"I can't say for sure, but the most likely situation is we will catch you sleep eating frosted flakes in about 5 hours."

"Shoot," Amy says, blushing, "now I can't do that!" We all laugh.

"Ok your turn Amber," Sapphire says, "truth or dare?"

" _Dare,_ " I choose.

"Ok then. You have to go into the bathroom and turn on the shower really cold and go under it in you pajamas!" She dares me.

"Easy," I smile. It's cold but only lasts a minute and I don't mind wearing wet clothes.

"Ok Amy, your turn," I tell her, towelling off my hair.

"Truth."

"Who do you have a crush on?"  
"Honestly you're so predictable," Sapphire says.

"Well duh, you have powers for that!"  
"I don't need powers to know you, you love asking the most cliche question in the history of truth or dare! Remember your sleepover party last year? You got three people to say truth and asked them that exact question each time!" We were so busy "arguing" I didn't notice how red Amy's face had turned until now.

"So, who is it?" I ask

"Sapphire's right, that's a lame question, you can do better Amber," Amy answers nervously.

"So, it shouldn't be hard. It's still Mona isn't it?" I pry.

"What? No, not her, I got over that ages ago," Amy's blush enters uncharted territory.

"Just last month you were…"  
"Just stop Amber." Things are awkward for a minute.

"If Amy really doesn't want to answer it we should respect that." Sapphire says, seemingly nervous herself. I start to argue but decide to just drop it.

"Fine, who do you hate the most?" I ask instead.

"Easy, Vincent is the absolute worst." We all move on from the awkwardness but I don't think anyone forgets about it.

Meanwhile, in a different house several blocks away, two hybrid boys are having their own sleepover.

"Hey dude!" Jet says as Bloodstone opens the door.

"Come in, I ordered two pizzas."

"You should've ordered three, you know me!" The boys laugh as they head for the den.

"Our sleepover is already better than the girls could be," Jet says.

"How so?"  
"Girls feel like they can't eat a whole pizza in front of their friends."

"You're doing the sleepover wrong if you don't eat a whole pizza." They watch Deadpool as they each eat their whole pizza.

When the movie ends Jet challenges Bloodstone to a competitive game of halo.

"We will play this until I beat you!" Jet says.

"You're on!" Bloodstone accepts the challenge. He knows they'll be playing for hours. Sure enough almost two hours pass before they stop.

"I can't believe you beat me seventeen times in a row!" Jet throws his controller across the room(making sure it lands on something soft), throwing up his hands in defeat.

"Maybe it's cause I didn't drink an entire 2-liter bottle of soda," Bloodstone says, setting his controler down. "I'm tired of this game, anyway."

"Yeah, same." Jet agrees. "But I don't see how the soda has anything to do with it."

"Well getting up to pee during every round and leaving yourself AFK doesn't help you win."

"I wouldn't have won anyway!" Jet complains.

"One day maybe. What do you want to do now?"

"We could play Pandemic, or finish this pizza while playing Pandemic! We could also play Risk, or maybe-"

"Nah," Bloodstone cuts him off. Suddenly he knows what to do. "Look, what's the deal with Jonathan?" Bloodstone asks. The strange Jonathan has been sitting with them at lunch on and off for three weeks. Bloodstone could tell something was up.

"Huh?" Jet wasn't expecting this question.

"You know what I mean. I sensed there was something more than just camp friends between you two."

"It's not an interesting story."

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't hear it. Besides," he grins with a hint of malice. "I have a feeling it's more interesting than you say."

"Well…" Jet thinks about hesitating but decides to rip the band-aid off. "We were really close at camp and I kinda had a crush on him. With only a week left I decided to ask him out but he had a girlfriend. Then I was really embarrassed and apologized for assuming he was gay. He was really nice about it and said that he was bi, another thing we have in common. He said he liked me but wasn't willing to cheat on his girlfriend. I told him I understood and we have still been friendly since. It doesn't really matter, I like someone else now." Jet immediately realizes he's made a mistake. "So this pizza's not going to finish itself…"

"I knew it!" Bloodstone points a finger accusingly. "What else aren't you telling me? Who's your crush now?"

"I mean I still kinda like Jonathan…" Jet tries to climb out of the hole he dug.

"So you admit it!" Bloodstone grins. "But you still haven't answered my question. Who do you like _now_?" Jet groans.

"Is there anyway I can get out of answering that?"

"Nope."

"Fine but only if you tell me who you like too."

"Same time?" Jet nods.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three…"

"Amber," they admit in unison.  
"Crap," They say together.

"Well, that's going to be a problem," Bloodstone remarks. "Can't say I didn't see it coming, though."

"Look can we just agree to be more mature about it than Amy and Sapphire were?" Jet says, the question coming out as a statement. "I really don't want a repeat of that whole fiasco."

"Of course bro, that was ridiculous," Bloodstone says and they agree, but at the same time both boys start coming up with plans to make Amber fall for them first. It's truly impossible to ignore desire, no matter how much it may hurt your friends.

 **Author's note: We know, we know, it's so cheesy to just get over the Sapphire Amy fight over Amber and now introduce this love triangle but bear with us. We promise we have a plan and this is necessary for some good plot points to come. Also you won't have to worry about the love triangle for the next two chapters (Actually, the chapter was so long we split it in to part one and two). In the next chapter** _ **Watermelon Tourmaline**_ **we'll introduce a new character. (Guess who... by leaving a review!)**


	6. Chapter 5: Watermelon Tourmaline-Part 1

_Chapter 5: Watermelon Tourmaline-Part 1_

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" I scream, dodging behind a bus as the corrupted gem comes barreling through the parking lot. It's Saturday, and here I thought I was going to have a nice, relaxing weekend.

"Mayday! Mayday!" I scream into my phone, and I'm sure everyone's eardrums are suffering through the emergency group call. "Gem monster. Market Basket parking lot. Get here ASAP!"

"On my way!" at least two of them say, and I hang up the call. I'm running as fast as I can in advance of the monster, trying not to cause all that much collateral damage. God, why did it have to be a parking lot?

"Eeep!" I throw myself sideways to dodge a flying car- it seems the monster has switched tactics. Cursing, I draw my sword and take a running jump right at the side of the building, driving the blade into the wall and swinging myself up. Panting, I waste no time dropping flat to hide behind the lip of the flat roof, and it seems I've managed to confuse the monster enough to grab a few moments of rest.

 _Oh, shoot. Now I have to deal with civilians._

Suppressing a sigh, I carefully peek over the edge. The monster is standing in the mostly-wrecked parking lot, momentarily confused. Just below me, crowding just outside the doors, is a small mob of curious bystanders, most of them filming on their cell phones. Dammit, why can't people have some self-preservation instincts once in awhile?

In one swift motion, I hurl myself up and over the edge to land right in front of the crowd. "If you want to stay alive, I'd suggest you get out of here right now before that thing notices you!" I shout as loud as I can, projecting my voice even to the people still inside the store. "Forget filming. Your lives are at stake. Run for it!" With that, I turn and pull out my sword, running dramatically in the monster's direction. I glance back briefly to make sure everyone listened and, sure enough, I've managed to spark a panic. People are running as far and fast as they can to get away, and some have taken what cars aren't yet smashed. Only a small crowd remains, retreating inside the store and watching from there. It'll have to do.

"Amber!" I hear a shout from behind me. I turn to see Sapphire and everyone else arrive with a trail of ice stretching behind them. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," I turn back towards the beast as they join me, the monster growling and ready to strike. "Took awhile to get everyone to leave, though. Most people have lousy self-preservation instincts."

"Well, we're worse than most then," Amy grins. We all simultaneously leap into action, weapons at the ready. Sapphire positions herself on top of the building, shouting out warnings and strategies. I try to go low, aiming for the front legs while Amy goes for the back legs, trying to knock it off-balance. The boys are working together as usual, Jet being more defensive with his glaive, defending Bloodstone while he aims for the head with his laser attacks.

Suddenly, I hear Sapphire shout out a warning just as a laser strikes the monster in the eye. If it was angry before, it's enraged now. It starts flailing out in all directions, limbs thrashing as it lets out an ear-splitting howl. I hastily retreat in order to avoid the thrashing monster.

"Jet! It's stunned, finish it off!" I shout, not bothering to look in their direction. The obvious lack of a response makes me turn my head, where to my surprise the boys are engaged in a rather heated argument. I can't hear much of it, but they're too deep in conversation to notice the gem, somewhat recovered, lashing out in their direction.

Before I know what's happening, I find myself placed directly between them and the beast, my sword blocking the blow. "Boys!" I shout, catching their attention. "Keep your heads in the game!"

Ironically, as I say that, I find my sword knocked out of my hands by the other foreleg. Scrambling backwards, I shove the boys out of the way before I barely manage to dart just beyond the range of its blow. Still, the shockwave knocks me off balance, and I go tumbling back over the sidewalk and down a short hill, stopping in a bush next to the road (which is pretty much empty, fortunately).

"Amber, watch out!" I hear Sapphire shout as the monster jumps right over my head to land in the middle of the street, taking down multiple power lines along the way. I try to run back up the hill, but the surface slips and slides beneath my feet, sending me back to the bottom no matter how hard I try.

"Alright then. Just you and me. Go on," I taunt it, sword in hand. In the back of my mind I know I'm no match for this thing, but right now I don't care.

"No! Amber! Get back here!" Sapphire shouts in vain from the top of the hill, watching helplessly as the monster starts to attack. I dodge each of its attacks, sliding under it and striking its exposed belly. It roars and jumps to the side, slamming into the ground with such force that I stumble again, and I find myself on the ground with one of the fallen streetlamps behind me.

I can't help but flinch and close my eyes as a gigantic paw comes hurtling down to crush me.

"No!" I'm suddenly tumbling out of harm's way, Sapphire's arms locked protectively around me. A blinding white light suddenly shines around us.

I'm sprawled across the ground, my eyes darting around wildly trying to make sense of what happened. I unsteadily pick myself up, looking at my hands. They're not my hands, and yet they are. Am I… taller?

"Oh my god what the hell just happened?" I hear Jet exclaim, and I'm brought back to reality. Instinctively, I look out into the future, seeing the possibilities before me. Half of me is shocked by this, while the other is... relaxed. That part had done this for years.

The gem seems surprised that its prey got away, but that doesn't stop it from chasing new, larger prey. I ready myself, drawing my sword.

The monster charges, and I wait for the last possible second before leaping sideways, slicing my sword along its side. The wound is long, but shallow. It'll take more than that to defeat it.

Using my height to my advantage, I wait until it turns back towards me and strike it in the eye, causing it to howl again and thrash, giving me the perfect opportunity to stab it right through the back.

"That was incredible!" Amy shrieks, running down the hill to meet me as I reach down to bubble the gem.

 _But I've never been able to do that before,_ one voice inside me whispers. I ignore it, for the time being.

"Like, how did you even do that? What should I even call you?" She asks.

"Watermelon Tourmaline," I say without thinking. I like the name. It seems fitting as the gem I can see on my chest looks pinkish with a green border. Not Amber or Sapphire's colors but a strange yet beautifully daunting mix.

"And how you like, combined and stuff?" Jet agrees, stopping to stand beside Amy. "That was awesome!"

"Is that what happened?" I muse, looking down at myself. I seem to be wearing a strange combination of clothing that feels familiar, and yet isn't. A t-shirt and jeans underneath a blue sundress that is much too small, and my hair is sort of half-up half-down, the center pulled into a bun and the sides hanging free. My skin is rather different too, taking on a speckled pink and green tone.

"That's amazing," Bloodstone says, and I notice he's still clenching his hand in a gauntlet-covered fist. I don't really understand why.

"We don't- how did we- what even happened?" Suddenly, panic sets in as I grasp the reality of the situation.

 _Calm down Amber._

 _I can't Sapphire, I don't understand this!_

 _Don't panic. What we really don't need right now is panicking!_

 _You're starting to panic._

 _Crap, I knew you could read my mind!_

"We- We don't- how-"

 _Does Sapphire still exist!_

 _What about me? I think Amber's still here!_

 _I think we'll see ourselves again soon._

 _I see your vision too._

A flash of light, and I find myself forcibly thrown across the grass, landing a few feet from Sapphire.

"What happened?" I mutter, rubbing my head.

"You guys just like, combined? There was like, a lot of really bright light, and the next thing I know there's this awesome huge lady fighting the monster and stuff," Jet happily supplies.

"That's incredible," Sapphire says, picking herself up. I rush over to help her. "I didn't see this at all! I couldn't have predicted something like this."

"Whatever it is, we should probably get out of here before we get blamed for all the collateral damage," Amy says, holding Watermelon Tourmaline's bubble.

"Yeah, that would probably-"

"Oh my stars!" An all-too-familiar voice cries out from above us. Wincing, I look up to see my parents looking down at us, panicked expressions on their faces. "Amber? What's going on? Are you hurt? What was that thing?"

"They don't know?" Amy asks in a low tone, raising one eyebrow. I groan.

"My parents knew," Jet and Bloodstone say in unison.

"My mom knew," Amy says.

"Same with my dad." Sapphire adds.

"Okay, maybe I didn't exactly mention it… but it just wasn't ever the right time, you know?"

"Dude, even my little sister knew. And she's really annoying," Jet scolds.

"Young lady, you get up here and explain yourself right now," my dad says, reluctant to approach further. Squirming under the awkward glare, I trudge back up the hill to face the music. Everyone else stays behind, respectfully, but not out of earshot I notice.

"Amber, what is going on?" My mom asks. I look down awkwardly, trying to find the right words.

"Okay, so you know all those times I'd go hang out with my friends at Balrey park?"

"Yes."

"And you remember the explosion at school a few months ago?"

"How could I forget?"

"And you remember the fact that I literally have a gemstone in my neck?"

"You haven't exactly been subtle about it lately," her glare intensifies.

"Alright, I'll get to the point. So the explosion was actually a big corrupted gem monster like the one we just fought, and all the times we go to the park are to train so we can fight those monsters and we've had about four fights so far, if you count this one, and don't count the one that was just me, and we can fight because our gems give us magic powers and I'm sorry if I scared you and please don't ground me until I'm thirty."

For what feels like hours but was probably only seconds, there is a deafening silence. Then my mom starts to cry.

"I can't believe it… you really spend all your time to learning to protect people?"

"More like self-defense," I explain, relieved that the hard part is mostly over. "For some reason these things always seem to come to us."

"You willingly put yourself and your friends in danger." Suddenly she's lost her proud tone.

"Yes."

"You have magical powers that are tied to your gem."

"Yes."

"You never told us any of this."

I freeze for a second. "I… I just didn't want you getting wrapped up in all of this."

"That's very mature of you," mom says, changing her mind about how she feels again while sweeping me into a hug. "You're grounded, by the way."

"I knew it," I say, but secretly I'm smiling.

"Just until your 29 though, not 30," Dad says.

"If you don't mind me asking… what can you do?" Mom asks, curious.

"Well, um, I have a sword." I pull it out to demonstrate, the tip of the blade scraping the ground when I relax my arm.

"You fight with this?" she asks, bending down to look at it.

"Um, yeah."

"And what about…" my dad trails off, looking down at my friends who are trying very hard not to look like they're eavesdropping.

"About what?"

"What was she called?" frowns for a moment, remembering, then snaps his fingers. "Watermelon Tourmaline."

That catches me off-guard. I accidentally drop my sword, and it falls to the ground before vanishing.

"Amber?"

"I... uh… We're still figuring that out," I say honestly. "I don't really know what happened."

"Ahem," I hear Sapphire say, tactfully cutting in right when things were getting awkward. " I appreciate your family heart-to-heart, but we should probably get moving unless someone wants to explain this whole mess to the police."

"Oh dear oh dear oh dear," mom exclaims, back into full-on Mom Mode. "Let's get you kids out of here. Do you need a ride?"

"Pretty sure the car is trashed," I point out, then immediately wish I hadn't. "That was totally the monster's fault."

"No, that's alright ma'am. Amber, didn't you say something about coming over today earlier?" She asks pointedly, giving me a way out. I gladly take it.

"Yeah, we still have the weekly training session this afternoon." I start to follow her down the hill.

"Not so fast, young lady." I stop and turn back with a sigh to see my dad glaring down at me, arms crossed. "You're still grounded for a month."

"But I can't miss training! This is literally the most important thing in my life right now!" I say, stomping back up the hill to face him. "Furthermore, you know you can't really keep me in the house if I don't want to stay, so why bother trying?"

That really hit a nerve. I regret the words almost before I'm done saying them. I'm almost certain I can hear Sapphire facepalming in frustration.

"Because we're your parents, and we love you," Mom says sternly, "And I can tell how important this is to you, but you're going to have to trust us. Your friends can come visit you as much as they like, but we are not letting you out of our sight. You understand?"

I slump in defeat. "Yes, ma'am." I follow her as we start walking down the street, but as I pass Sapphire on the way by I signal her desperately with my eyes-

 _Help._

Wow, they really came through for me!

I've opened my front door less than three hours after returning home from what I now call 'the parent fiasco' to find all four of my friends waiting outside.

"We figured if you can't come to training, why not bring the training to you?" Amy says, smiling happily.

"Oh my god you guys, I can't even!" I grin so wide my face starts to hurt. "C'mon in. I have fresh cookies!"

I let the stampede rush to the stacked treats on the table, waiting to be eaten. In truth I'd just been baking to avoid talking to my parents, but now it's totally worth it. I've already eaten several cookies by myself, so I let them devour the rest.

"So I guess we're temporarily moving training to my backyard?" I say once the cookie tray is empty, and my living room is filled with very full teenagers.

"That was the plan," Amy says, then burps. "Sorry."

"Race you outside!" Jet screams.

"What are you, three?" Bloodstone yells at him. I was ready to laugh but Bloodstones remark lacked the sarcasm he meant it to have. I ignore it and we all run. Sapphire wins which Amy complains isn't a fair use of her powers.

"So we need siri to choose between Bloodstone, Amy, and I right?" I ask, Sapphire and Jet having battled last time we met(ending in Sapphire and Jet both too tired to continue). Jet and Bloodstone nod to my request, Bloodstone with an eager look on his face. Sapphire stares at Amy expectantly. Amy blushes.

"I was just thinking… shouldn't we talk about… Watermelon Tourmaline," when Amy is met with silence she adds, "if that was her name?" to try and ease the tension. I turn to Sapphire and discover her already looking at me. I know so much more about her now. As Watermelon Tourmaline, her memories flooded at me during every second we weren't busy fighting or panicking. Although they went at superspeed I know I haven't seen them all. She smiles and I know she's thinking what I'm now thinking-that it would be awesome to do it again.

"I… I think that maybe it's Amber and I that should try to recreate merging." Sapphire says.

"Merging?" Amy asks, unhappy.

"It's just a name I thought of," she mutters.

"I would like to try merging," Bloodstone says.

"Same, I want to merge with Amber," Jet says and blushes to a shade I didn't know guys could reach. "'Cause she's the most powerful and stuff…"  
"I could merge with Sapphire!" Amy volunteers. It's been a while since I've seen her blush, even longer since she reached a shade that is barely a notch higher than Jet. "Cause future visions cool and stuff…"

"I want to merge too!" Bloodstone whines. Sapphire says nothing but stares at Amy with a strange look on her face. I guess I'll have to be a leader again…

"It will probably be best if Sapphire and I try first since we've done it before. Then once we figure it out we'll teach you guys." They all sigh and then stare at us expectantly. "Oh no, not now, that we'll do in private, we wouldn't waste our training session on just two people." I try to laugh, it sounds fake even to me. "So then, Bloodstone, your phone?" He hands it over and Amy and Bloodstone are called. I don't understand their general lack of enthusiasm. I end the session early. No one bothers to argue and say we should stay.

 **Author's Note: Fusion! It's finally here! Yes, they are calling it merging for now but they will learn it's true name one day. This chapter was originally so long that we had to split it into two! I hope you'll enjoy the next part and leave a review saying who you want to see fuse next! I am so sorry this is a day late, there was a minor emergency, but everything's fine now. The next part will still be posted on Tuesday like usual. Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 6: Watermelon Tourmaline-Part 2

_Chapter 6: Watermelon Tourmaline-Part 2_

I hear a knock on the door half an hour after I disbanded the group. I'd mostly been moping around about the failed meeting up to that point.

"I'll get it," I shout to my mom and run to open the door.

"Hi," Sapphire says when I open it.

"What are you doing here?" I ask excitedly.

"Maybe a private practice could be of some use." I smile and we go my room.

"How do you think we did it before?" I ask as soon as I've closed the door. Sapphire always seems to understand things better than I do.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure," she admits. "The future is so indistinct right now I can barely see more than a few seconds ahead."

"Don't look at the future," I say, sitting down next to her. "Look back at the past. We need to understand what we did, how we do it, and most importantly why."

"Hmm," she looks off into space for a moment, then hesitantly begins to speak. "I saw you in danger, and when I looked into the future every scenario I saw was you getting crushed. So I acted impulsively, and I guess that changed the course of fate. I didn't know that was possible."

"Like when you said that Amy taking 3 weeks to return was impossible?"

"Like that, yes. Although in my defense that was a very improbable possibility that I did, in fact, know was possible."

"Watermelon Tourmaline," I murmur, trying to think. "I'm guessing at this point, merging would require some kind of trigger. An emotion, or an intent, I guess."

"I don't think that's exactly it," Sapphire frowns. "When we merged, we were completely synchronized in the same being. Maybe that has something to do with it."

"Synchronized…" something in my mind is trying to click, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Suddenly, my phone rings, and I quickly deny the call after glancing at the unfamiliar number. But that gives me an idea.

"Sapphire, dance with me," I say, standing up and holding out my hand.

"What?"

"We need to be synchronized, right?" I smile, and she hesitantly takes my hand. I pull her to her feet. "So what better way than a dance?"

"You know I hate dancing!"  
"Come on, it'll be fun!"  
"I suck at dancing."  
"I won't judge you!" She hesitates a minute before nodding.

"Alright, but not in here," she says. "I'm pretty sure we'd go through the roof." She has a point.

After stealthily checking to make sure both of my parents are still in the study(which has no back-facing windows), I lead Sapphire outside.

"So how shall we do this?" I ask, despite the fact that it was technically my idea.

"Well, we both dance very differently, so start off separate I guess," she says. "You there, and me here. And you aren't allowed to watch!"

"How are we supposed to dance together if I can't see you?" She makes a face and we both back up a reasonable distance and start dancing.

I don't really dance well, so I pick a song from my mental playlist and start dancing along. Nothing too fancy- mostly just back-and-forth steps. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sapphire trying to twirl elegantly back and forth, like she's dancing to Mozart or something.

I start adding a little more flow to my movements, and as my dance changes so does my mental music. It's faster now, but also more free-flowing. I start to close the distance between Sapphire and I, and she's doing the same. I reach out to take her hand, and we dance back and forth together, my movements somehow perfectly meshing with hers.

Suddenly, I trip and fall backwards, but Sapphire's grip keeps me from hitting the ground as she leans back the other way, and for a moment we're perfectly balanced. I reach across with my other hand, as does she, and we both pull ourselves up and into a dual spin. We giggle, and finally a burst of white light engulfs us.

"Whoa!" I look down at myself, greenish-pinkish speckled skin all too noticeable. "I- we did it!"

I sit down on the ground, slightly dizzy. _I can't believe that worked,_ Amber thinks.

 _Well, you did suggest the dancing._

 _This is so cool!_

 _What should we do?_

A mischievous idea enters my mind. Our minds? Ugh, pronouns. I stand, wobbling a bit on unfamiliar legs, and stealthily hop over the fence into a neighbor's yard. Despite being rather conspicuous, I find it rather easy to avoid being noticed so long as I'm quiet.

 _Wait, but I'm grounded?_

 _Watermelon Tourmaline isn't._

 _Who knew you'd be the rule breaker here?_

I make my way along the street, keeping mostly to areas with vegetation to hide in- my skin blends in rather well. Eventually I make my way to Balrey park, at which point the purpose of this expedition escapes me.

"What am I even doing…" I murmur out loud, looking at my hands. The streets are practically deserted at this point, since most adults around here don't get Saturdays off. What kids I do see tend to steer clear of me, aside from one or two obvious hybrids, but even they leave after a pointed glare.

 _Let's go home,_ I decide, and I'm far less careful on the way back, but no one notices me. Or if they do, they pretend not to. I'm grateful. Despite that I am careful as I sneak back over the fence into the yard- only to find Amber's parents searching the house in a frenzy. I couldn't have had worse timing, as Amber's mom steps out into the yard just as I land.

"Oh my stars!" She exclaims. "It's you. Watermelon Tourmaline. Where did you come from?"

 _She doesn't know,_ Sapphire's voice resonates in my mind. I heed her warnings, briefly looking into the possibilities. Most of them are predictable- she freaks out about her daughter, I try to explain, she doesn't understand.

Oh, what the hell. I'll just wing it.

"Um, look, there's a lot of confusing stuff going on right now," I try to dodge the question. Unfortunately, her Mom-Sense is impeccable.

"What do you know about my daughter?" She asks, anger and worry evident in her voice. "I know she wouldn't just run off like that!"

"You're right," I say, bending down to her height. "She wouldn't. But I would."

I'm lying on the grass, Sapphire a few feet away. My mom is just standing there in shock.

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best plan," I murmur to myself.

"I'm suddenly having second thoughts," Sapphire says, standing up. I pull myself to my feet as well.

"I don't- what even- oh my stars!" Is all Mom can say as her eyes continuously dart between the two of us.

"Okay. Mom. What do you understand?" I ask, trying to find a good way to explain it.

"Nothing! I don't understand any of this!" She's panicking. Well, now I know where I got it from.

"Look, it's very simple," Sapphire says, and I'm more grateful for her than ever. "You may want to sit down for this."

After an emergency batch of premade pastries are finished baking, we gather around the table for some serious talk. I let Sapphire do the explaining.

"Amber and I both have gems. You know that. And because of that, we are able to merge to become Watermelon Tourmaline. Do you understand?"

"No."

"Let me put it this way," I say, trying to explain better. "When we merge, both our minds and our bodies combine into a new person. Watermelon Tourmaline has all of our powers, all of our strengths and weaknesses. In this case, 1+1 doesn't equal 2. Greater than the sum of our parts. Do you get it now?"

"And… how often do you do this?"

"Well, we only just found out it was possible today," Sapphire says.

"Oh my stars," she sits back in her chair, both relieved and worried at the same time. "I don't know what to make of this."

"Neither do we," I tell her gently. "And I'm sorry for leaving without telling you. But technically it wasn't exactly me, so-"

"Oh no, don't think you're not in trouble," she says sternly, back in Mom Mode. "You're on kitchen cleaning duty tonight."

I groan. With all the baking that goes on in my house, the kitchen is always a complete disaster.

"I'd offer to help, but frankly, you deserve it," Sapphire says, standing up. "I should get going. Do you mind if I tell the others?"

"No problem," I say, and I know she's referring to merging when she says it. "See you on monday."

"See ya."

It's monday, and after an exhausting weekend of tons of chores and nearly no social contact I'm almost grateful to be back at the Torture House. My excitement dissipates, however, when just after I've sat down at lunch Moonstone and her crew saunter up to our table.

"Heard there was a bit of a catastrophe last Saturday," she says, standing over us. I do my best to ignore her. "If I were you, I'd leave the fighting to the professionals. You don't know what you're getting into."

I glare up at her, refusing to back down. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Do you even know what the monsters are? Do you even know what you're fighting for? You're a mess, and you know it. So stop trying to make us feel bad just because you're jealous."

"Damn, Amber," I hear Jet murmur appreciatively. That came out way meaner than I intended, but I meant every word.

"I'd watch your tongue if you want to survive another day here," she says. "I can ruin your entire social life with the push of a button. So don't get on my bad side." With that, they saunter off.

"What the hell was that all about?" Amy asks once they've left, glaring at their table out of the corner of her eye. "That was our fight, fair and square."

"They're just trying to get to us," I say, taking a bite of my sandwich. "Don't let them win."

Right on cue, a literal T-rex smashes through the cafeteria windows.

"Can't I go more than two days without a fight?" I shout, standing to face the monster. I can't see its gem anywhere, but manage to catch a glimpse when it roars- a red gem is on its tongue. Weird, but alright.

"Amber!" I catch sight of a small figure clinging to the neck of the monster. "Little help?"

I break out running, dodging discarded lunches and fleeing students to come to Sapphire's aid, but a tall figure zooms past me before I can make it. I watch as he roughly yanks Sapphire off the beast's back and brings her back across the cafeteria.

"Don't worry miss, we'll take care of it," I can hear him say, flashing a grin. "I'm Spinel."

"What are you doing?" She slaps him across the face. "You idiot! I was the only thing slowing it down. Now it'll rampage even more!"

"Spinel!" Moonstone's voice carries across the room. "Stop flirting and get over here!"

"Coming, babe!" He shouts. Babe? Ew, they must be dating.

"Alright, this is our chance," I say as Sapphire joins us. "We need to take that thing out first, and prove our worth. Got it?"

"Weren't you the one who said we shouldn't let them get to us?" Amy asks pointedly.

"Doesn't mean we can't still beat them," I say. "Besides, we've got a few tricks I'm betting they don't know about."

"Good point," Sapphire says with a grin. "Right. Our best bet is to lure it outside, where we have more space to work with."

"Right. Jet and Bloodstone, you're together like usual. Amy, try to get it off-balance. It's bipedal, so it shouldn't be hard. Sapphire, if you can, try to freeze it in place. Then I can come in full-force."

"Sounds like a plan," Amy says, promptly curling into a ball and dashing off, trying to distract the monster. I lead the charge right past them (dodging the other group, who are already trying to attack it) and making it outside through the broken window. Amy finally manages to get it to chase her, leading it right into our improvised trap.

Outside in the courtyard, we're ready and waiting. Jet and Bloodstone station themselves near the back, Bloodstone hitting it from range as much as possible. He's definitely learned- he's aiming for the eyes. Amy is almost too fast to see, greatly confusing the beast as she zooms around it. I'm standing just in front of Sapphire, sword at the ready, as she concentrates and freezes its feet in ice.

Just when it seem we're winning, the beast frozen to the ground, it seems to absorb the ice. Jagged spikes cover its body, and it roars, much louder than before.

"It gets stronger with everything we throw at it!" I cry out, panicked.  
"Retreat!" Jet shrieks as it nearly crushes him and Bloodstone. We regroup at the opposite side of the courtyard, on the defensive.

So of course now the other group decides it's their turn.

"Let's show those losers how it's done!" Moonstone shouts, and all four other members of her team follow her in a coordinated assault. But that's all it is- an attack. They have no strategy, no defense, and it's going to be their downfall.

"You idiots! It's just gaining strength from your attacks!" Sapphire shouts before I can. They don't listen, of course.

"Dammit dammit dammit," I mutter. "Now we have to deal with them, too…"

"How are we supposed to beat this thing?" Amy asks fearfully as it nearly triples in height after taking a blow from Spinel.

"I-I don't know," I admit. "Nothing seems to hurt it."

"I can't see any good possibilities," Sapphire admits. "But I've been wrong in the past, so it's possible that I'm wrong now."

"We're running out of options," I say, wincing as a shockwave runs through the ground from its massive foot. The longer we wait, the stronger it gets. "We have to play our trump card."

Sapphire's eyes widen. "You can't possibly mean-"

"It's our only option," I say, and even I can hear the fear in my voice. "We've got nothing to lose."

"We have everything to lose!" She retaliates. "If we just… just let them deal with it, we'll be fine. Right?"

The shortest of their group- Ruby, I think her name was- gets thrown into the ground so hard she makes a crater. That's gotta hurt.

"You're right. We have everything to lose. That's why we can't give up," I say, squeezing her shoulder. "We'll be fine."

"Forgive me if I'm missing the subtext," Bloodstone says tonelessly, "But are you guys talking about Watermelon Tourmaline?"

"Yes," we answer in unison. Sapphire nods.

"Let's hope for the best," Amy says, resigned. The three of them back up, and I know we don't have much time. The corrupted gem is taller than the school now.

"We don't have time," Sapphire whispers, echoing my thought. "C'mon." She takes my hand, and somehow our limited practice pays off. A bright flash of light shines across the courtyard.

"Okay, let's do this," I say, feeling significantly less disoriented than the last two times. Almost everyone is staring at me, but I don't feel self-conscious at all. "Hey! You!" I point at Moonstone, more confident than I could ever be on my own(s?). "Get your 'troops' out of here. I'll handle this. Or do you want to get crushed?"

"I don't have to listen to you!" She says defiantly.

"Don't make me carry you out like a baby." I turn back to Amy, Jet and Bloodstone. "Can you guys make sure they stay out of the way?"

"No problem," Jet flashes a grin. I turn back to the task at hand.

The huge dinosaur towers over me, nearly filling the whole courtyard. Looks like I won't be taking it down with brute force. Feeling much stronger than usual, I jump to the top of the school, then up onto the monster's back. It doesn't even notice, being to intent on squashing its prey beneath. Clambering up to its head, I try to find a weakness.

Summoning my sword, I jab the blade right into its eye. It howls in pain, but then a glassy film grows over both its eyes, ejecting the blade. Dammit.

It finally notices me as I'm attempting to get back to the ground, and it tries to shake me off. Knowing fully well that I'd be flung way too far, I hang on for dear life, but eventually lose my grip. I fly straight up into the sky, arching back downwards just in time to land right in the monster's mouth.

"Oh, gross," I say, shaking saliva off my hands. I just barely cleared the teeth, and I'm standing on the tongue. It doesn't seem to have a throat, strangely enough- then again, why would it need one?

Finally, a thought occurs to me. The weakness. Steeling myself against the grossness, I reach down and pull on the gem in the tongue. It barely budges, and as I pull with all my strength it finally comes loose. The gem's form around me disappears, leaving me several hundred feet in the air and holding a green gem.

"Why does this always happen to me?" I shout as I start falling through the air, remembering to bubble the gem and send it off immediately. This is gonna hurt.

Suddenly, I realize I'm not falling, but rather floating gently towards the ground. _Sapphire,_ a part of me recognizes the power. I had no clue I could do that!

I land softly on both feet, feeling gravity return once I make contact with the ground. Amy immediately rushes up to greet me.

"OMG that was awesome!" She says, holding up her hand for a high five. I oblige her, and suddenly I'm tired, really tired.

"My head…" I groan, sitting up. "I hope that doesn't happen every time," I see Sapphire a few feet away, being helped up by Amy.

Being helped by _Amy?_ That's probably the weirdest thing that's happened all week. I mean, Amy's been extra friendly to Sapphire ever since they made up… What is going on? My thoughts are suddenly interrupted, by Moonstone's annoying voice.

"What the hell was that!" Moonstone screams. Sapphire and I rub our heads in unison as if we are still one. I bite back a laugh so Moonstone doesn't notice.

"Well…" I look to Sapphire to see if she detects bad outcomes. She shakes her head. "Someone just saved you I guess."

"No, it was…" Bloodstone covers Jet's mouth. Moonstone and Spinel glare at us.

"We would have been fine without her. Where did she go anyway?" Spinel says. Moonstone hits him playfully.

"Stop flirting with people. Especially that one," she makes a face at Sapphire.

"Don't make fun of her!" Amy shouts. It takes both Sapphire and I to restrain her. I guess she's trying to make up for her past behaviors.

"It's not worth it," I say.

"Though I wouldn't object to it…" Sapphire mutters. I give her a glance.

"You guys need to stay out of our way!" Spinel spits at us.

"You guys need to take care of your team better. No one has checked on Ruby yet and she was thrown back really hard." I say. Pearl rushes to check on Ruby, although she receives a glare from Zircon.

Moonstone ignores her. "Look, I'm not stupid. I saw you two- combine, or whatever. So quit lying. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Whatever the hell that was, I'm getting to the bottom of it." With that she turns and walks off, her team following behind her. I can't help but cringe when I notice her slight limp.

"Well, that could've gone better," Bloodstone says with an audible sigh of relief.

"What were you even doing here, Sapphire?" I ask, not having gotten the chance before.

"It came to my school first. Didn't do nearly as much damage, since I managed to slow it down and direct it here. I couldn't beat it alone so bringing it to you seemed like the best plan. Sorry about that."

"No, you did the right thing," Amy says. Yeah, she's definitely acting weird.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm all for taking the rest of the day off," I declare. Looking around us, I doubt they'll keep anyone in school anyway.

"I wish," Sapphire says. "Ugh, now I have to come up with a good excuse."

Suddenly she freezes and drops to the ground.

"Sapphire!" We all shout at once and rush to her side. I have to push Amy out of my way. She's completely frozen in ice and her eyes are open, blank and wide with fear. Almost as quickly as she froze, she thaws, shakes some water of her dress, and runs away without saying anything.

"Well, that was weird," is all I can say. Cue awkward silence.

"I hate to break the sentiment, but we should at least go in and show our faces so they know we're not dead," Bloodstone says. We all groan, but he's not wrong.

Just a normal day in Schoolhouse Torture.

 **Author's Note: And that's a wrap! I hope you liked this chapter. What do you think is going on with Sapphire, and why is Amy acting all weird?**

 **Well you won't find out in the next chapter. Sorry. The next chapter, "Again," will feature some extremely poor decision making and Sapphire calling Amber an idiot.**

 **Enjoy!**


	8. Chapter 7: Again

_Chapter 7: Again_

"Shut up!"

"No, you shut up!" Jet and Bloodstone are yelling at each other again. They've been doing this a lot more lately, for no good reason. "She won't even look at you after I pound you into the dirt!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'm gonna throw you halfway around the world before you can say 'I lose'!" Jet retaliates.

"Whoa, boys," I say, inserting myself between them. "Now is not the time for arguing! Now is the time for training."

"Shut up, you're the whole reason we're fighting!" Bloodstone shouts, aggravated. I freeze, and he covers his mouth the moment he hears what he said. Jet gives him the stink eye, and then they look back at me, and suddenly find the grass of my lawn very interesting to look at.

"So that's how it is, huh?" I say, looking back and forth between the now-silent boys. "I don't know what's going on, but I know that no matter what happens, I do NOT want a repeat of the 'incident,'" I point at Amy and Sapphire over my shoulder, and they both start laughing. At least they're over it. "Got it?" I say, hands on my hips.

"Oh, it won't be a repeat," Bloodstone says. "Because I'm gonna win!" Did Bloodstone just call himself the Amy? Eh, I don't have time to worry about that.

"Boys!" I shout, but it's too late. They've taken the floor to spar.

"Looks like we've got a bit of a mess here, huh?" Sapphire says, sitting down beside me as the boys circle each other.

"I don't even understand what they're fighting about!" I complain.

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Sapphire states. I nod. "They both have crushes on you…" I facepalm.

"Seems to me like you're stuck in a love triangle," Amy agrees, sitting on my other side.

"I don't really know what to do," I admit, watching the boys continue to circle, neither quite willing to make the first move.

"Oh will you just go already?" Amy shouts at them. That seems to startle Jet into action, as he darts in with his glaive. But Bloodstone is ready, catching the weapon in his gauntlet-covered hand less than an inch away from his chest.

"They're going to kill each other!" I exclaim, watching in horror as they launch into a series of brutal attacks and retaliation, each more powerful than the last.

"Don't worry," Sapphire whispers softly. "They're both frustrated right now. They're trying to prove themselves. But they won't actually hurt each other." As we watch, I notice Jet's weapon deflect an inch away from hitting Bloodstone. "See?"

I breathe a sigh. "Yeah, I just worry sometimes. I feel like this is all my fault."

"It's not your fault that everyone likes you," Amy says, patting my head playfully.

"We can do this all day, you hear?" Jet shouts, and my attention turns back to the matter at hand. I know they'll burn themselves out eventually, but come on, this is ridiculous.

"Alright, that's enough for now," I shout, walking down the steps to my backyard, which we have unofficially deemed 'the training pit'. They stop and back up a few paces each. "Let someone else have a turn, alright?"

They each take spots on the steps as far from each other as possible, and I sigh. Oh, well. At least I can vent some of my own frustration at Amy in the next match.

"So how's everything in Boy City?" Sapphire asks me over the phone as I'm walking home straight from school, per my grounding order.

"Awkward. They won't even talk to each other, much less me, and they've taken over different tables on opposite sides of the cafeteria. I've attempted to send Amy as an ambassador, but once they realised what I was doing they stopped talking to her." I run a hand over my head, tugging on the too-tight bun. "Any advice from the wise fortune-teller?"

"Don't call either of them," she says immediately. "But other than that, no."

"What happens if I call them?"

"Extreme levels of awkwardness." She pauses, and I can practically see her contemplative expression. "If anything's going to get resolved, it's gonna have to be face-to-face."

"I figured," I say, although I can't hide my slight disappointment. And here I'd hoped I could just send out a text that would magically fix everything.

"I gotta go, but I'll talk to you later," she says, and I can faintly hear the cacophony that is the hallway at dismissal. "Remember, don't call them!"

"I won't." She hangs up.

Upon entering my house, I find myself bombarded by the usual anxious questions- it's like the apocalypse could strike at any moment! If it hasn't struck already, that is. What with everything that's been going on these past few months, I'm not so sure.

"Don't call. Don't call. Don't call," I chant to myself, staring at my dark phone. I groan and flop on my bed.

"Why does this stuff always happen to me?" I ask the empty air. No one answers. Suddenly, my phone starts ringing. It's Amy.

"Hello?" I say automatically.

"Hey, I heard you were having some problems in boyville. Need any advice?"

"Oh thank god, you're like the only person I know who could help with this,"I sit down on the floor, relieved. "Sapphire was no help whatsoever."

"Well duh, I'm like 99% sure she's never had a boyfriend," Amy says. "Or girlfriend, for that matter. Do you even know?"

"She never talked about it," I say, surprising myself. "And I never really asked."

"Huh," Amy says. I'm not exactly sure what her mixed tone is trying to convey. "So, you seem to be stuck in a love triangle here."

"I have no clue what to do," I say. "Isn't it ironic that I call my gay friend for help with boy issues?" I ask. Amy laughs.

"I've had enough girl troubles to make up for my lack of boy ones. And besides, guys have asked me out before, even if I never said yes. So do you like either?"

"No, I mean, I like them, but not like that, you know? And if I don't choose, I know what will happen."

"Don't you dare draw parallels here," she says sharply. "That whole fiasco was my fault. We're talking about boys here. And I may not like boys, but they sure like me. Trust me, they will do ANYTHING to get your approval. So just tell them you're gay. That always seems to work for me." She knows my silence means I'd be giving her the look if I could.

"Okay, okay, just tell them to back off. They'll respect that if they have any decency whatsoever. Although I'm not entirely sure they do…"

"But how am I supposed to do that without ruining our friendship?" I say, then immediately realize just how corny that sounds.

"Very carefully," she replies, dead serious. "Seriously Amber, the only way you're gonna work this out is through a very long and awkward conversation. For me it always ended with 'I don't like guys, so just stop already', but for you it's more complicated. My advice? 'I'm not interested right now,' would be your best bet."

"Thanks, Amy," I say, smiling. "I'll keep that in mind."

"No matter what, I'll have your back," she says, and I can practically hear her grin. "Let's sort this out tomorrow, right after school."

"I'm still grounded, remember?"

"They won't care if you're a few minutes late, right? And you can always make up a school-related excuse."

"What'cha mean, make up? I have an entire archive ready to go," I say jokingly. She laughs, and we end the call.

One sleepless night and awkward school day later, I find Amy waiting outside when I leave the building at the end of the day, literally holding the boys in place.

"Hey, Amber!" She calls, both joyful and determined. I walk slowly, suddenly having second thoughts. But I know there's no turning back now.

"Hey, Amy," I say, momentarily ignoring the guys (who are both very interested in their feet at the moment).

"Well, I'll leave you to it," she says after a moment's silence. She walks away and I'm almost completely certain she stopped walking right after rounding the corner.

"Well," I say, trying to start a conversation. "This is a bit awkward. So who wants to go first?"

"Made a choice yet?" Bloodstone is the first to speak up. I'm not surprised.

"Yes," I say. "But you won't be happy with it."

"Does that mean…?" Jet's eyes light up.

"No." I look at them with my best glare and say "I choose neither."

"You can't do that!" Bloodstone says, his hands curling into fists.

"Look, let me explain," I say quickly before the situation can escalate further. "You're both great guys, but I just don't like either of you like that. We've been friends since what, 6th grade? It would be weird now."

"Not like that's ever stopped me before," Jet mutters, then his eyes go wide when he realizes he said it out loud. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No," I say, ice cold. "I know exactly what you meant. And if neither of you is willing to be mature about it, then I don't know what's going to happen. But pull it together, if not for me, then for the team." On that note, I walk away. Sure enough, Amy is waiting just around the corner.

"So?" she says, although I'm certain she heard everything.

"I have no idea what's going to happen next," I admit. "Everything just got even crazier."

"You told them you're not interested?"  
"In so many words, yes."

"Then you've got nothing to worry about," she insists, but I can tell she's lying through her teeth. "Once they get over the rejection, things will be back to normal before you know it."

"I sure hope so," I say, unconsciously reaching up to put a hand over my gem. "I should go, but I'll see you next week." Wow, I nearly forgot it was friday.

"See ya," she says, watching but not moving as I begin the walk home. Somehow it feels too short, as though I'm being dragged towards the inevitable.

When I get home, I have a text waiting on my phone (which I had left at home to charge). It's from jet.

 **WELL, IF YOU EVER CHANGE YOUR MIND, WANNA GO OUT ON SATURDAY?**

As I'm reading, another text pops up, this one from Bloodstone-

 **WOULD YOU LIKE TO JOIN ME FOR ICE CREAM ON SATURDAY?** Well, at least he was honest. Another text pops up from yet another person, a number I don't recognize.

 **HEY, WANNA HANG OUT SOMETIME? -JONATHAN.**

Oh, no.

"Help!" I shriek into the phone the instant Sapphire picks up.

"Whoa, slow down. What's going on?"

"I tried to talk to the guys and I thought I fixed things but now it's even worse and now apparently Jonathan likes me too even though he didn't really say so but it's obvious and I don't know what to do!" I hear the laugh she's suppressing. It takes her a minute to get it under control.

"Okay, first of all, calm down," she says. I take a deep breath. "Next, think logically. You told the guys you're not interested?"

"Yeah, but apparently they didn't listen."

"And now someone else wants to go out with you."

"Yeah."

"Well your in quite the pickle."  
"Yes I am," I ignore the humor, "and Amy's advice was more useless than yours!" I feel bad. "I'm sorry."

"No, your right, I wasn't very helpful. I've just never been in your situation."  
"Well what did you do the last time someone asked you out?"

"I've never been asked out. No one's ever liked me."  
"Come on that's not true, you're pretty and you're in high school, you can't just have never had that problem. I had a boyfriend once. Even Amy's had a girlfriend!" I feel worse now. I didn't mean to hurt her. "I…"  
"Amy's lesbian?" I'm grateful she's ignoring my previous statements.

"Yes. Wait you didn't know? She came out in like, 3rd grade."

"No."

"Well anyway…" geez, this is awkward.

"I'm sorry I don't know what to tell you. Who's this other guy who asked you out?"

"Jonathan. He and Jet apparently know each other, and now he goes to our school."

"Do you like him?"

"Maybe? Sorta? I don't really know." Suddenly, inspiration strikes. If this were a cartoon, I'd have a light bulb over my head."That's it! If I date Jonathan, then Jet and Bloodstone won't fight anymore!"

"No, no, no, no, no. That's a terrible, and I mean TERRIBLE idea. That's the worst idea you've ever had. Ever. And you've had some me really bad ideas in the past. I mean seriously, pickled calamari? Were you insane? And don't get me started on your phase of saying 'Holy guacamole cannoli'!"

Ignoring her I respond, "And? It solves the problem, right?"

"No you'll just make things worse! I might have 0 experience but I'm not an idiot and I know how I felt when my crush got a girlfriend. I hadn't even told them I liked them!"

"Wait, crush? You never told me about this!"

"It's not important and it was a long time ago. The important thing is you don't go date Jonathan just to solve your…"

"Oh no, I am totally dating Jonathan. I finally have a solution that doesn't involve total heartbreak!"

"Wait, Amber!" I hang up.

After a full hour of deliberation (yes, an hour) I finally reply to Jonathan's text.

 **I'D LOVE TO HANG OUT, BUT I'M GROUNDED. I COULD PROBABLY SNEAK OUT THO.**

He replies immediately. **THAT WORKS. WHAT TIME?**

 **WHENEVER.**

 **I'M FREE NOW. HOW ABOUT BALREY?**

 **SURE.**

I spend the next 10 minutes or so trying to pick a proper outfit, eventually just settling on a t-shirt and jeans, plus a denim jacket. I quickly make sure my parents are still occupied- yep, they're both busy baking- before I lock my bedroom door and carefully open my bedroom window. I know I can take a fall like this easily, but it still takes a moment to get the courage to jump for it.

I latch onto a branch of the nearest tree, then carefully make my way down to the ground. I duck through my neighbor's yard, then once I'm far enough away I run for it.

I stop just around the corner from the entrance to Balrey, take a deep breath, then walk down the block like I'd just calmly walked the whole way instead of flat-out sprinting. Jonathan is already there, comically looking at his watch.

"Hey, Jonathan!" I call out, waving. He looks up and smiles, waving back.

"Hey, Amber," he says as soon as I approach. "Thanks for showing up."

I shrug. "Not like I've got much else to do."

He grins even wider. "C'mon. There's something I wanna show you."

I follow him into the woods, down almost the exact same path we took when we were stalking the ice monster. We finally emerge into the hidden clearing, a fire already going in the center.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" I exclaim, pretending to be surprised. I quickly take note of the tunnel at the opposite side, just in case. "How did you know this was here?"  
"Can't reveal all my secrets, now can I?" he smirks before sitting down on a log beside the fire. He pulls a bag out of his jacket. "Marshmallow?"  
"You really do prepare for everything," I say, sitting down beside him. We each take a stick from the ground and start roasting our marshmallows, and I can't help but take comfort in the simple familiarity of the situation.

"It's rather romantic, don't you think?" Jonathan asks as we're eating our marshmallows.

"Classic, sitting by the fire," I agree, casually leaning against him. I'm totally out of my element here, but winging it seems to have worked so far. Jonathan wraps an arm around my shoulders, and then he leans down and kisses me.

It's not my first kiss, technically, but I don't think 'spin the bottle' really counts. The kiss is brief, glancing, and Jonathan blushes after we separate.

"Sorry, I-" he begins, stuttering.

"It's okay," I tell him firmly. This is what I was after, right? "You're not the worst kisser in the world."

Jonathan visibly relaxes, smiling. "You're not so bad yourself."

It's a Friday night, and as I'm climbing back up to my bedroom window, I can't help thinking about my date. It's sunset now, almost 7:00 since it's almost summer, and I know I would've stayed if I wasn't worried about getting in trouble for sneaking out. Still, I barely make it back in time, hearing a knock on my door only minutes after my re-entry.

After dinner, the first thing I do is call Sapphire. She picks up on the first ring.

"Please, please tell me you didn't do it," she says pleadingly.

"I cannot tell a lie," I quote. "Yeah, I went on a date with Jonathan, and it was awesome."

She sighs. "Great. That rules out pretty much all of the good futures…"

"Hey, it's not so bad," I tell her. "Once I tell the guys I have a boyfriend, they'll back off."

"Or someone will get hurt…"

"What do you know about the future!" I understand her silence to be her rolling her eyes. "Ok but you said most of the good futures…"

"Pretty much all."

"But that means some are still good. So, that's what's going to happen, the best option!"

"You're delusional."

"No I'm happy."

"Do you even like Jonathan?"

"I definitely could."

"Ugh…"

"Stop worrying."

"I physically can't as my mind runs down the rivers of terrible outcomes!"

"Look, I made a decision and what really isn't helpful is you telling me it will go wrong. Bye."

"Bye. Don't tell…" I hang up before she can finish. Oops.

 **BY THE WAY, DON'T TELL THEM, I'LL TELL THE GUYS TOMORROW. THEY'LL NEED A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP IF ANY GOOD CAN COME OF THIS. YOU CAN'T BACK OUT NOW** Sapphire texts me only a few seconds later. I sigh.

Maybe Sapphire's right. I should call Amy. The phone rings until it tells me to leave a message. I call again. It has to work.

It doesn't.

Neither do the next three calls.

 **Author's Note: Sorry. Just sorry. There are many cliches here.**

 **Next chapter is Don't Tell Amber-Part 1, where we'll dive into the minds of Jet and Amy, and then, in Don't Tell Amber-Part 2, we'll see Bloodstone and Sapphire's inner thoughts. Why changing perspectives 8 chapters in, you ask? Because we're the authors and we said so, that's why.**

 **Enjoy!**


	9. Chapter 8: Don't Tell Amber-Part 1

_Chapter 8: Don't Tell Amber-Part 1_

 _Jet_

First thing in the morning I log onto League of Legends under my username Jet_dabom39. I like to always use the same username and fortunately it wasn't taken here. I slip my headphones over my ears to block everything out. This game is my refuge, my escape from the rest of the world.

Suddenly I get an in-game message.

JohnnyBoyDude78: _yo Jet what's up man? I have HUGE news!_

Jet_dabom39: Hey Jonathan, what's up?

JohnnyBoyDude78: _Amber and I went out last night! It was great, I didn't know she was such a good kisser XD_

What. The. Hell.

What is wrong with her? I'm so angry, and hurt, and just overall really emotional, of course my first instinct is to pick up my phone.

"BLOODSTONE YOU WON'T BELIEVE IT!" I shout into the phone at the same time as Bloodstone says, "JET ARE YOU SITTING DOWN FOR THIS BECAUSE I HAVE THE BIGGEST NEWS!" We laugh for a moment but we each can tell things are serious.

"Let me go first, trust me," I tell him.

"Ok. What's the big news?

"Amber is dating Jonathan."

"That's what I was going to say! Who told you?"

"He did. And he mentioned her kissing skills."

"Ugh."

"Who told you?"

"Sapphire called me. She was about to call you too but I said I'd tell you myself."

"Are you ok?"

"No, but I'll survive. Are YOU okay, Jet? Your two crushes are now making out with each other. It doesn't sound like an ideal situation…" it amazes me how even with his heart broken he's still a good enough friend to worry about me.

"I don't know. I can't believe she would stoop to such a level. It kinda ruins almost all of my feelings for her. Like, how could I like someone who could use my friend just to hurt us?" I don't tell Bloodstone that for some reason my feelings for Jonathan are amplified. I mean, how stupid is that?

JohnnyBoyDude78: _bro you there? ur status says online._

Crap, I forgot about League of Legends.

"I have to go Bloodstone. Let's meet for ice cream later. That's what girls do when guys are jerks right? Why shouldn't we?"

"Ok. Around 1, at that little place on Ring St?"

"Sounds good."

"Bye Jet."

"Bye." I hang up.

Jet_dabom39: _yeah I'm here, sorry I was distracted for a sec._

JohnnyBoyDude78: _no problem, wanna play multiperson?_

JohnnyBoyDude78: _ugh, stupid auto correct, multiPLAYER?_

Jet_dabom39: _Of course!_

As we play I keep chanting to myself, "I should hate him, I should hate him, I should hate him," over and over again. Why aren't I mad at him? The logic that he couldn't have known I liked her shouldn't make a difference. I should be mad but instead I pity him. I doubt she actually likes him, she probably just wanted to get me and Bloodstone off her case.

If that was her goal it definitely worked. I will never feel that way about her again.

But Jonathan is a different story. Somehow the fact that he sees in Amber what I saw makes me feel closer to him, more connected. We're so similar. It makes me like him more, and that makes me hate myself even more. I don't like this feeling. I can't make it stop. I continue my chant.

We play three games before Jonathan has to go. I slap myself for wanting him to stay. What the hell is wrong with me?

My phone beeps and I reach to check it. Bloodstone has sent me a text.

BE THERE IN TEN

OK, I'M HEADING OUT NOW

The ice cream place is a 7 minute run from my house. I grab everything I'm going to need, (so just my phone,) and shout so my dad knows I'm going before I run out the door. I enjoy the run, it helps clear my head and calm me down, not having to think about Amber or Jonathan or having to fight crazy monsters…

Geez, my life really has turned upside-down in just the past two months.

The little bell rings as I open the door to the shop. Bloodstone sits at a window table, thinking about some new idea for an RPG no doubt.

"Hi," I say.

"Hi," he says. Things are awkward for a second.

"So, do you want to get some ice cream?" I ask. The awkwardness dissipates, and we're smiling and laughing again, just hanging out like normal friends do. I'm glad that Bloodstone and I can still do that, even after everything that's happened.

"What do you think is going on with Moonstone and her gang?" I ask Bloodstone. Though I won't admit it, we both know I'm trying to distract us from the elephant in the room.

"I don't know, but they definitely need to reevaluate their priorities."

"Seriously, the way they left Ruby like that was awful."

"Pearl went to check on her," he says almost defensively.

"After she was reminded what happened. Speak of the devil," I point Bloodstone towards the entrance behind him where a certain hybrid pearl has just walked in. She blushes when she sees us staring and orders her ice cream fast. She rushes out, not turning back even when the cashier tells her she left way to much change.

"I feel bad that we made her uncomfortable. I have to apologize," Bloodstone gets up to leave.

"What? You can't be serious!" I grab his arm and he shoves it away.

"I'm apologizing."

"They're the enemy!" I say frantically as he disappears. I sigh. Don't ask me what's made him so righteous all of a sudden.

I sip his milkshake while he's gone. A punishment from which he'll never know he suffered. When I hear the bell I push the drink away from me.

"You were gone for a good five minutes," I say.

"I had to make things right. Fighting is stupid," he says, then immediately realizes his poor word choice. Fighting is kinda what we're all about now. Just for good measure, I glare at him. "Us fighting with their group is stupid," he amends.

"They started it."

"We both have the same goal, to protect people."

"That's not true. Well it's almost true but they want to do it for different reasons. They want glory and power and popularity."  
"We don't know that."

"We're pretty sure… Their hierarchy certainly says something."

"We have a leader. And maybe they don't all want that."

"Ok, if you say so…" Things are awkward again. All I can think is _you deserved me taking a looong sip of your milkshake._ Instead I say, "So what were you saying about that new RPG earlier?" We go back to talking casually and it's like nothing happened. Still, I don't get how he can defend them.

We never end up talking about her. I think it's for the best, the distraction by means of conversation about stupid, random, unimportant things.

When I get home I log back onto League, and Jonathan is on again. I decide to shoot him a message.

Jet_dabom39: _hey dude, want to play again?_ It only takes him a minute to respond.

JohnnyBoyDude78: _of course bro!_

There's only one thing you need to know about my mom; she has the worst timing ever. In the middle of the game when we're super close to losing and I need to pay full attention, she knocks on the door of my room.

"I'm busy!" I shout at her but she continues to pound my door.

"Let me in Jet!" She shouts. I type a quick, "sry brb," into the chat, run to the door, and unlock it, practically at the speed of light. I am back in my chair and playing by the time she comes into the room, but I'm too late and the tower is almost destroyed, I know the game will end soon.

"What do you want? You made me lose!" I complain to my mother.

"Good, you should stop playing video games anyway. You need to go outside and get some fresh air."

"I literally just went out and hung out with Bloodstone."

"Stop calling your friends by their gem names, it's weird."

"You call me Jet."

"Jet is a normal name."

"It's also my gem."

"Not the point."

"Ok, fine, I went out with _Peter,"_ the name feels unfamiliar from lack of use.

"And where did you to go?"

"To get ice cream…" I mumble.

"Exactly. Now go outside and play a sport or something."

With that she leaves, and I know I can't go back to playing now. My mom is unreasonable, but she could be a lot worse. My dad had me from his first marriage but my birth mother died in childbirth. He met my step-mom a year later. They were married when I was four and I got to be the ring bearer. She's always treated me like her own, so I hate referring to her as my step-mom. I decide to tell Jonathan before logging off.

Jet_dabom39: _My mom is making me get out of the house! :(_

JohnnyBoyDude78: _ugh, parents are the worst! Hey, idea! Why don't you come here? We could play halo!_

Jet_dabom39: _that's a great idea! are you sure your mom is ok with that?_

JohnnyBoyDude78: _yeah dude!_

Jet_dabom39: _alright I'll be there soon, c u_

JohnnyBoyDude78: _c u soon!_

What did I just do?

After a minute of shock I pick up my phone and tell my mom I'm heading out. She gives me the thumbs up of approval, and I head out to Jonathan's house. We've hung out once since he moved here, but I was too busy fighting with Bloodstone over Amber to ask him if he'd reconsidered us. I blew my chance with Jonathan because of Amber and now they're dating. Will I ever get over this? Ugh, I feel like a girl.

I stand on Jonathan's doorstep for two full minutes wondering if I should bail. Finally I knock, determined not to reveal that I still like him. I would never jeopardize his or Amber's happiness, even after what she did.

"Hey dude!" Jonathan greets me.

"Hey! Halo?"

"You know it!" We head down to the basement and he already has a bowl of popcorn, a bowl of chips, and a bowl of candy set up.

"You really know what I like," I laugh.

"You should've seen the first date I planned out with Amber." I laugh even though it's uncomfortable. He will never know.

After a couple hours Jonathan asks me for help studying for his history test. He knows I'm good at history. I gladly help him.

"So," I ask like a game show host, "who was our fifth president?"

"Andrew Jackson!" Jonathan shouts.

"And?"

"He was known as the people's president because he came from a poor family unlike the first four presidents and made it so poor people could vote even though he didn't help make it so women or African Americans could vote!"

"Yes, that's all right!" My mind screams at me as I kiss him in the excitement. No! My mind shouts, you can't do this. Too late. Quickly I pull away.

"I'm so sorry I just…"

"No, it's good," and before I can comprehend what's going on he kisses me again.

"I thought you liked Amber," I whisper.

"I thought you didn't like me anymore when we hung out and you didn't seem to care."

"I was distracted. It was about Amber actually," I laugh.

"Don't tell Amber, will you?"

"Of course not, she's one of my best friends… And she thinks I still have a crush on her."  
"Another thing we have in common."

Amethyst

MY turn. No one cares about Jet's stupid stories. Unfortunately you caught me at a boring time but I'll let you "watch" my life anyway.

I press my ear against the door; my mother just left and I need to make sure she's walked far enough away. When I can no longer hear her footsteps, I hang upside down over my bed and grope under it. I feel a round ball, nope. A jump rope, nope. A old "invention" of mine, again nope. Finally I feel it, a piece of wood that mostly resembles the shape of a heart. I pull it out and sit upright again on my bed. I grab my whittling knife from the back of the drawer in my bedside table and make some adjustments to the shape. Everytime I pick up the heart again I'm unsatisfied with it. I wonder If I will ever be satisfied or if I will eventually whittle it down to dust.

I love to tinker and have all my life. Maybe it's because my mother is a construction worker. She taught me to whittle when I was very young but until middle school I ignored it so I could build things instead. When middle school came I found I had less time to invent things, and resorted to whittling. I'm quite good at it now, if I do say so myself, but this heart is the hardest thing I've ever worked on. It shouldn't be, as I have made much more complicated things, but I know that I have to get it right. If it's not perfect then there is zero chance she will like it.

I sigh, she'll never love me anyway.

Finally I am happy with the shape (for now) and I go back to the engravings on the top. So far I have pictured her in a beautiful flowy dress and myself. Where the hands meet is the trickiest part. I am wearing a plain dress in my engraving. I would only ever wear a dress for her. The dress has a hole in the middle so you can see my gem. Technically my usual outfit is a halter and a skirt but that's not the same as a dress. Behind us is a tree with branches that split and weave themselves into the top of the heart and eventually meet the roots which sprout from the bottom of the tree and the bottom of the heart. The tree is incredibly detailed with a knotthole and a little carving of a heart around S+A. I did Sapphire last and it took me a full hour just to start carving her.

For awhile I couldn't admit to myself that I liked her. I thought I only had a crush on her because she saved me, even though I almost tried to kill her. That all seems so silly and stupid now. After a few weeks, when it still hadn't gone away, I had to admit it was real. Most of my crushes only last a week but this was different. During the first week, when it was because she saved me, I couldn't pay attention to anything except her, especially during meetings. I noticed all her little nervous habits, like how she closes her eyes when she's looking for specific futures and how her hands shake when she speaks as if she's nervous. And even though she can see the future and knows what will happen, she's still so human.

It's funny, I didn't notice all the things about Sapphire that make me love her until she saved me and forced a crush. I'm glad that I liked her simply because she saved me because it made me put aside the fact that she's Amber's best friend and truly see her for who she is. That sounds so cheesy, but everything about love is cheesy.

Except, I'm also not happy about it all. If she'd never saved me I'd never have liked her and noticed her and then I wouldn't be here, crushing on my best friends best friend. And since she'll never like me it's hopeless. I wish I still liked Mabel.

After a few more minutes of whittling, trying to make everything perfect, I stop myself. More details would ruin it at this point. I turn the heart over to see if that side needs work. It's a closeup of the S+A in the tree. There is nothing more to do. Slowly I get off my bed and go to my closet. After moving everything out of the bottom drawer of my dresser, I can access the safe. I pull it out and extract the key. I won't tell you where I hide the key. I lift out the small engraved box from inside it and open the clasp. The box is engraved in vines with leaves and flowers sprouting as they curl. I place the heart gingerly in the middle of the box. The box is lined with sparkly tissue paper and has other trinkets already inside. A small bottle with sand and little shells with a rock and small bow around it rests on one side. A tiny rolled up letter rests on the bed of sand. On the right rests a pair of earrings that don't match, one has real sapphires and the other has real amethysts, but besides that they are exactly the same. The gem, a silver bead, the gem, a silver bead, then a larger version of the gem in the shape of a teardrop. I have their true matches but I think they look great together. A small selection of chocolates are scattered around the box. All that is missing now is a rose and maybe a picture of us, but I know I won't get one.

I sigh. It will never happen. All this is for nothing. The only part I'll regret is the sapphire earrings. The amethyst pair was $25, and I'll be able to wear those, but if she says no I won't be able to bring myself to wear the sapphire ones, and those cost $75.

It won't work but tonight is my best chance.

My phone rings and I go to answer it, I have 5 missed calls from Amber. Oops. I need to get better about answering my phone but I always end up ignoring it.

"Amy! Finally I've reached you."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's ok. Are we still on for tonight?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile since our last sleepover. Did you invite anyone else?" She hasn't mentioned Sapphire yet but I'm hoping I won't have to be the one to invite her.

"No, I didn't want to force you to hang out." Crap. Ok, time for quick thinking. I should say something like, she's your friend so it's ok or…

"Invite her already!" That was not subtle. Oops.

"Uh… ok I guess. I'll call her after we hang up and I'll text you her response."

"Great thanks. It just like, we should all be friends right?" I say trying to make my outburst less obvious.

"I understand." But I get the feeling she doesn't.

"So I'll be there in a hour with a movie or new video game and maybe a snack?"

"And I'll order the pizza and set up the blow-up bed."

"Grea…"

"Wait, I just realized a problem. If I invite Sapphire you two will have to share the blow-up bed. Are you ok with that?"

"Yeah that's fine." More than fine.

"Ok, see you soon."

"See ya."

Quickly I pack my bag, toothbrush, pj's, clothes for tomorrow, hair brush, phone, headphones, and phone charger. I pack my little stuffed pig that I named piggleton when I was 3. I know I'm 15 and I'm being way immature, but I still sleep with piggleton. It's a night time ritual.

I need to get cash from my mom before I head out. That's definitely gonna be a challenge- she never wants to let me spend anything, constantly reminding me that she has to work a full-time job to provide for us, how hard we have it since she's a single parent.

I never knew my father, he died shortly before I was born, but I know she loved him. I wonder if she blames me for his death. She's always been a bit strict but I know she loves me.

Time to ask for the money…

"Mom?"

"Yes Naila?"

"I told you I was having a sleepover with Alice and Arabella at Alice's house right?

"Yes you did, are you heading out now?"

"Yes. I was wondering if I could have some money so we can rent a movie…"

"Sure, out of your allowance."

"But I only need ten dollars. I'm saving my money up for something so I would appreciate just ten dollars." The ten dollars is for the movie. I don't know how much flowers cost but I brought my own ten dollars for that. My mom sighs.

"What will you do for me?"

"I…"

"Of course you can have ten dollars. Just don't come asking for more soon, ok? Money is still as tight as always."

"Thanks mom!" I say as she hands me the money. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye honey," she calls as I rush out the door. I sprint down the stairs of our apartment building and run past the door before my mom can change her mind. Once outside I slow to a walk. I'm glad I left so early as I don't know where to find a flower store. Usually it only takes me 10 minutes to get to Amber's house, 30 if I stop buy the center to rent a movie or video game. From there I'll find a flower shop.

I'm debating whether to get a movie or game when my phone rings. What does Amber wa…

It's Sapphire.

"Sapphire?" I say, nervous she knows about my plan.

"Hi Amy. I meant to call you earlier but there was a disaster with some set pieces for my play and then Amber called me. I need to warn you about tonight." Oh god she knows! "I know this subject will come up so I think it's important to warn you." No no no… "Amber's dating Jonathan."

"But… wait what?" I was not expecting that. Maybe my plan will still work. "When did this happen?"

"Last night. He asked her out and she snuck out. She only did it so Bloodstone and Jet would leave her alone. Did she tell you?"

"She called me three times last night but I was busy… making things. But seriously, that's awful what she's doing. Does she even like Jonathan? He's probably head over heels for her."

"She said she, 'thinks she could like him.' I'm personally pissed for him. And you make things? What kinds of things?"

"Yeah, I make stuff, but it doesn't matter. Seriously though, Amber needs a major intervention."

"I'm so glad you agree with me. I have to go now if I'm going to make it to Amber's on time. See you soon."

"See you soon." I'm mentally screaming my head off. It's the first time she's called me, just me!

I choose a movie with romance and action, like what I want my life to be. I rent The Princess Bride. We've all watched it a million times but it's still good. With 25 minutes to spare, but really only 15 I rush to find a store. Fortunately there's one called Flowers Flowers Flowers, A Flower Shop across the street and a few doors down. I wonder what they sell. The little bell rings as I enter the shop. All I need is a single pale rose. Or maybe I should get a deeper red one.

"May I help you?" The saleslady asks.

"I'm looking for a rose."

"Right over here." She brings me over to a wall filled only with roses in an array of colors. Although the deep red ones and the pale pink ones are amazing, a deep purple rose catches my eyes. It seems like a purple color mixed with a deep blue.

"How much for that one?" I ask her.

"$3, tax included."

"I'll take it." Along with the flower, I buy a little vase with a sealable top, exactly what I need. She fills it with a little bit of water and pushes the stem through the soft top, and it makes a perfect seal around the stem. I turn it over and no water drips out. If anything will get me Sapphire's love, this is it. I hide out in the bathroom of a nearby diner and pull the box out of my bag. I carefully add the last piece and place it inside horizontally along the bottom of the box. Carefully using the tissue paper to fill the gaps again I close the box and place it once more in my bag. I have 15 minutes left so I can take the walk nice and slow.

The doorbell to Amber's house rings and I can hear her scream, "I'll get it!"

"Hi Amber," I say as she opens the door.

"Hi, Sapphire's not here yet so maybe we can talk…" I laugh, I know what she means. When we get to her basement she starts to talk again."

"So, about this thing with the boys. I made a decision, but Sapphire thinks it was a bad one."  
I think I should feign surprise for now.

"What did you do now…" I'm only half joking.

"So Jonathan asked me out and I said yes."  
"Do you like him?"

"I think I could if I tried, and I'm working on it, but I only said yes to get out of this whole situation with Bloodstone and Jet. Sapphire really ripped me a new one when I told her. Do you think I messed up?" I want to tell her how mean she's being but I feel like for now she just needs a friend. I'll calm her down and then, when it gets brought up later with Sapphire, I'll tell her how I actually feel.

The doorbell rings and we run to open the door. I make it look like I'm simply following her. When she opens the door I see a beautiful girl, curly brown hair on tan skin. A modestly low neckline reveals her deep blue gem.

"Hi," Sapphire smiles.

 **Author's note: I'm sorry about all the romance but it's not done yet. We know that some stories are heavily reliant on romance plots but that's not what we want this story to be about. This is necessary for now but in a few chapters it will cool down and not be too romancy anymore. For now Bloodstone still has Amber to worry about in his part and you know about Amy's plan for Sapphires part. Also, what do you think is going to happen with Jet and Jonathan's relationship? Certainly nothing good for Amber… Sorry it was rushed at the end there, that was intentional. Don't worry, after the second part we will have a break from all the romance.**


	10. Chapter 9: Don't Tell Amber-Part 2

Chapter 9: Don't Tell Amber-Part 2

Bloodstone

My hands are shaking. I don't think it's from the cold, I think it's from the nerves. Although, this restaurant is incredibly cold. Who controls the heat around here?

I guess I should explain why I'm standing in the line for a restaurant that's way out of my price range, freezing my toes off.

Well it all started when Jet and I met up for ice cream. You see, we had been fighting over Amber which was so stupid because then she turned around and stabbed us in the backs, which doesn't make sense because Amy's the one with two daggers. We decided to have ice cream to smooth things over. We now shared a common enemy… OK, not enemy, but we share that feeling that neither of us feels anything for her anymore. How could we after such a childish display? All our feelings just evaporated and I'm so glad. We were talking about Moonstone and her crowd when Pearl walked in and we made her very uncomfortable. I felt bad about it and I had to apologize to her.

Pearl being pretty, and my hormones causing me to need to acquire a pretty girl as the target for my next crush, also probably helped me feel sympathetic.

"Wait!" I said once I made it outside. She turned around, surprised. "Pearl, I'm sorry if we made you uncomfortable."

"No, it's fine," she said, in that classic 'I say its fine but its really not fine but I'm not gonna say its not fine' way that girls do.

"Really though, don't listen to him. Don't listen to any of them. Amber hates you because you bullied Sapphire, Sapphire herself probably isn't thrilled about that either, Amy just hates cheerleaders because she isn't one and Jet… I don't actually know what his deal is but I think he has some sort of beef with Moonstone. I… I don't want to judge you based off the actions of you and your team. People act strangely in teams." I felt so awkward. Why couldn't I english today?

"Hey, I'm not one to judge either." Pearl surprises me. "Zircon hates you because he likes to be mean now that he has these powers, Ruby is super loyal, and Spinel just thinks whatever Moonstone does. I think she has something against Jet and Amber."

"What even are Zircon's powers?" I start to laugh and then realize what I've just said. "I mean…"

"No, no, I see your point. He's good at analyzing situations after the fact and giving feedback and advice in ways that don't anger others. He also discovered he has a jousting lance. I'm honestly not sure how it's helpful since he can barely carry the thing." We both laughed. Somehow I felt comfortable with her, which led me to make a huge mistake.

"Want to go to a french restaurant? With me, that is..." I surprised myself by saying.

"Sure. But don't tell Moonstone, she'd kill me." She said after very little hesitation. I was stunned. It took my a full minute to process what she had said.

"Great, meet you at 7?" I finally spoke.

"Sure. I have to go now though, my team's waiting on me. See you."

"Bye…" My voice trailed off and I stood there dumbfounded for awhile before heading back into the ice cream store.

Now I'm standing in line to be seated at this fancy french restaurant. It's so cold it feels like Sapphire is here and angry.

Wait, what if she stood me up? It feels colder as the chilling thought grips me. Finally I am soothed by the sight of a pale pretty girl entering the restaurant behind me. I notice her short pink dress. I should probably compliment it at some point.

"Hi," she breathes.

"Hi." An awkward moment sits before I come up with something to say. "Sorry about the line. I didn't know you had to make a reservation at these places. I think its a 45 minute wait."

"Well it better be worth it."

"To be honest, I'm not the biggest fan of French food. I just thought you would like it." I am relieved when my honesty pays off and I hear her laugh and she smiles.

"I don't love French food either, I'd much rather get takeout and go to a movie or an arcade."

"It's like fate or something! Well, what are we still doing here, Burger King is like 2 blocks away! Another perk of fast food is I'll have money left so we can go to a movie!" Pearl laughs again and I take her hand to lead her out of the restaurant. We head to the Burger King a few blocks down and chat naturally the whole time. I get a whopper and she gets one too.

We head into a movie theater and eat our burgers while we wait in line to buy tickets. She's the one who suggests an action movie, even though I was about to say the same thing. I begin to think she's the female version of me, that's how much we have in common. I order a large refillable popcorn for the two of us to share and it comes with only one soda. Pearl doesn't point this out or protest, in fact, after my first sip she takes a nice long one.

The movie is boring and doesn't deserve the title of action but I think Pearl enjoys it. Slowly I reach my arm up and wrap it around her shoulders. She looks up for a moment, then smiles and leans into me.

"Do you like the movie?" She whispers.

"It's so boring." I whisper. Crap, what if I just ruined the moment?

"I can make it more interesting," she says, chuckling. Before I have the chance to say anything back, she kisses me. All I can think about is how perfect she is, not about this being my first kiss, that's lame.

The movie finally ends a painful hour later. Well, it would have been painful if we had paid any attention to it. I have zero clue what the plot was. I offer to walk her home, but she refuses.

"My house is too close to Moonstone's, if she saw us we would be dead. Well, I'd be dead, and then she'd probably go after you and your team just because she can."

"Ok then, let me at least walk you to the park," I say, trying to hide how disturbed I am by the way she talks about Moonstone.

She smiles, "I'd love that."

In the park we linger, not wanting to say goodbye.

"Can I have your number?" I ask.

"Of course." she writes it down on a slip of paper and hands it to me. " Well, I guess this is goodbye for now." She kisses me before turning to walk away.

"Goodnight." I whisper, and I know she hears me.

After leaving her as I walk home alone I think about what she said. She would be dead if Moonstone knew about us. I would be dead if Amber or Jet ever found out. I text her to ask if she's ok with being discreet. She says she will if I will and I agree. I want to beat myself up for having to hide this. I really like her. Still I know it will be okay if we don't tell. Amber especially can never know.

I wonder if I should tell Jet. I don't think he would understand either, he was very weirded out by me even talking to her earlier. I don't think it would go well. Amy would tell the others and I just don't know Sapphire that well. I wish I had someone to talk to.

There's always my older brother.

Jackson is three years older than me and going to college next year. Even with the age difference we've always been able to tell each other anything. He always told me before he snuck out of the house in case anyone got worried. I told him about our group of hybrids. He told me when his girlfriend got pregnant and he wasn't the father.

The point is, I can talk to Jackson. Hopefully he will be in his room.

"Jackson?" I ask, knocking on the door, "can we talk?"

"Uhh, yeah sure I guess. But promise me you aren't going to act like a girl again and tell me all about your feelings. Unless it's about that bitch Amber and what she did to you and Jet. I still can't believe she did that!" Oh yeah, I told Jackson about Amber after calling Jet.

"Neither can I, but I'm over her. In fact that's what I wanted to tell you about. I got a girlfriend! I think..." My brother cheers,

"Took you long enough! Finally my little bro has a girlfriend!"

"Shh! Don't shout, mom and dad might hear!"

"Sorry little dude, I'm just so happy for you!" He ruffles my hair.

"That's the thing though, I'm not completely sure were official but she made out with me and she seemed to really like me. There's just one problem…"

"What is it little bro?"

"Her name is Pearl."

"And?"

"She's on Moonstone's team."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Well you can't tell Amber."

"Of course not, I know that. But it's not like I'm going to break up with her. That is if we're even dating. She's perfect for me Jackson, way better than Amber."

"Just be careful. Amber will be hurt when she finds out, so you better want to marry Pearl before you tell Amber."

"Amber will not know unless there is a wedding she needs to attend." My brother smiles. I know that despite his doubt, he is happy for me.

"Are you sure Pearl isn't a rebound?"

"Seeing as Amber and I never really had a relationship, yes."

"Ok. Just be careful."  
"I will."

Sapphire

I'm getting the feeling that you will be hearing all of my thoughts for awhile. Hope you enjoy the show. I anticipate many amusing outcomes as well as many boring ones. For example, there's a chance that once I knock on this door and Amber lets me in, we will talk about cheese for an hour. Then there's a more interesting possibility where Watermelon Tourmaline appears because Amber wants to cheat at battleship and needs my help anticipating how Amy would place her ships. She should know by now that there are too many combinations of placements for me to know which is accurate. Besides, I would never help her cheat.

I'm also getting the feeling that you've been hearing too many stories of love. You don't have to worry about that from me, I'm perpetually single.

Unfortunately for you, however, I do not see anything more interesting than the battleship thing in the near future. Unless something incredibly strange happens it will be a normal day. Well, as normal as days that include sleepovers can be.

Sometimes I used to wonder what's the point in doing anything if you already know how it might play out. I decided a long time ago that the answer is because you get to choose which outcomes you want to occur. Still, it can be hard to get up in the morning, especially if things are bad and you know for a fact they won't get better. Some things aren't possible, that's just life.

But believing they can happen is what makes it different. And it's so hard for me to do that.

You see I'm different from the others. And I don't mean different from the kids at school because I have a gem on my chest, there are many others with gems. I don't even mean because mine is a sapphire, a gem I haven't seen on anyone else. I guess that makes sense, sapphires are pretty rare. But again, that's not what I mean. For all the other gem hybrids their powers are new. They never tried to tap into their gems before because they didn't understand them.

Mine isn't new. I've always been able to see possible futures. It's like a maze of rivers made of decisions that flow into lakes of outcomes. I've always known I was different. It still doesn't explain… never mind.

I knock on the door to shake away the thoughts of school that almost occurred, and a moment later Amber opens it.

"Hi," I smile.

"Come on in," Amber says.

"I got us a movie to watch," Amy says, holding up a little bag. "Have you heard of the Princess Bride?" We all laugh.

"It's my favorite movie," I assure her, though that technically isn't true, but it's what she needed to hear. We eat popcorn while we watch until the pizza arrives. Amber ordered two large pizzas and we all pretend we aren't really hungry and take long pauses in between each slice. We finish the first box and then laugh when Amy reaches for a 6th slice from the second and there is none.

"Who had a sixth slice of pizza?" She asks, all detective like. Slowly Amber raises her hand, and Amy throws a pillow at her. After a brief pillow fight which we will all forever deny actually happened I say,

"Now we have to rewind, anyone remember where we left off?" I laugh. Unfortunately, seeing the future does not mean I have perfect recollection of the past. We give up on the movie and play Pandemic. It's fun to save the world, even if it is fictional. Amy somehow manages to draw two pandemics in a row, but fortunately it's towards the end of the game and we survive.

"Do you still enjoy games like that?" Amy asks me.

"What do you mean?"  
"With your future vision don't you know what we'll draw?"

"No, I close my eyes when you shuffle so any knowledge I had disappeared. There are too many possible arrangements after that."

"Could you cheat at battleship if you wanted to though?" Amber asks. I sigh and shake my head.

After failing to save the world, and then saving it again to make up for that, Amber's mom declares it, "way, way past bedtime." We head up to Amber's room with no intention of going to sleep anytime soon. We change into our pajamas and sneak down to the basement, closing the door above the stairs. We head into the game room where we played Pandemic.

"Let's dance!" Amber squeals, the doors block out the sound.

"What is it with you and dancing?" I ask.

"Come, on, it'll be fun! We can have competitions," Amber says. "Plus, it's like, a sleepover classic!"

"I'll be the first judge," Amy is quick to volunteer. I am forced to go first. Amy deems me the winner but Amber demands a rematch. During our rematch Amber falls and hits her knee.

I tried to warn her.

Amber is ready to retire after that, so we sneak back up to her room and she gets into her bed. Amy and I sit on the blow-up mattress.

"Let's play truth or dare again," Amber suggests, unable yet to fall asleep. Amy rolls her eyes.

"Fine," I say for Amy and I both, "but we did play it last time."

"It's not a sleepover if you don't play truth or dare. Now Amy…"  
"Don't make me first!"

"Too bad. Amy," Amber smirks, "truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"You have to… send Lisa a text saying, 'hey baby whassup?'" Amber grins.

"No!" Amy gasps.

"Who's Lisa?"

"Amy's ex-girlfriend!" Amber taunts.

"Very ex. We dated in 8th grade." Amy says.

"That's only last year." I say.

"We got together just before Halloween and broke up the day after the winter dance. It didn't mean anything." For some reason Amy looks guilty.

"But she was Amy's first kiss so it's important." Amber adds.

"One peck during the dance. It was really just for show." Amy grinds her teeth. I can tell she's not really saying everything, but it's understandable.

"Whatever, text her!" Amber says.

"Don't make me," Amy whines.

"Fine but then you have to choose truth."

"Ok, truth."

"Who did you like better, Lisa or Ginger?"  
"Who's Ginger?" I ask.

"Amy's other ex!"

"From 5th grade! That doesn't count!" Amy looks mortified.

"Well who is it?" I ask. For some reason I'm upset about her having had two girlfriends in the past. Why does that bother me so much?

"I guess now it would be Ginger. I'm really mad at Lisa. Our breakup was bad. Although I have to admit I was relieved after. I hadn't liked her for a few weeks at that point. Still, she ended the relationship by posting a picture of her making out with Laura on her Snapchat story.

"That's awful…" I say.

"I'm over it," she says dismissively. "Now your turn, Amber, truth or dare?"

"Dare…"

"Call Jonathan and tell him you love him and want his baby!"

"Eww! That's disgusting."

"Yeah I knew you'd say that." Amy says, chuckling. I did too but I can't talk from laughing so hard.

"Just tell him, 'hey sunshine,' in a deep voice and I'll take it." Amy says.

"Fine. But it's late so he probably won't pick up anyway." Sure enough, he doesn't. "I wonder what he's doing tonight." Amber says after leaving him a voicemail after leaving him a voicemail.

"Probably missing you." Amy says. I stop myself from saying probably thinking about video games.

"Your turn Sapphire, truth or dare?" Amber asks me. I close my eyes and block out my future vision.

"Dare."  
"You have to wear Amy's 4½ inch heels all day tomorrow!"  
"I've never worn heels before!"

"You chose dare!"

"Fine." I know they'll forget about it anyway, so it doesn't matter. Amber smiles, proud of herself. I can see she's growing tired, I better get my questions out fast if I want answers. I know Amy is going to pick truth again after the dare Amber gave her. I don't need powers to know that.

"Amy, truth or dare?"  
"Truth."

"How many girlfriends have you had and for how long?" I don't know why I needed to ask it but I did.

"Easy, Just Ginger, 2 weeks, and Lisa, you already know how that happened." She seems confident to say it was only the two. I feel relieved for some reason.

"What about you Sapphire? How many boy or girlfriends have you ever had." Amy looks hopeful and the question catches me off guard. I think she's trying to take the embarrassment off herself.

"None." The word slips out unconsciously. Amy smiles.

"Which would you have?" Amy presses on.

"Hey that first question was my turn!" I exclaim.  
"Just tell us," Amber says, although she's already falling asleep. I decide, why not just tell them. It's not like they'll judge me.

"I think I would have a girlfriend. I can't stand boys." Another thing school can never know about. I say it like I'm just now thinking it for the first time, but in reality, I've known for years. In the sixth grade I even had a crush on Amber for awhile… that was bad. I was over it by seventh though, and that was one of the best days of my life, waking up and realizing I had a crush on Lydia instead of Amber. Of course I'm long over that too but the point was I no longer had to dream about something that I not only knew I could never have, but also didn't want. I'd never ruin my friendship with Amber.

Amy's grin widens, and my blush deepens, until suddenly we hear a loud and classic Amber snore. We both groan and roll our eyes. Well, she's out for the night. Suddenly, I feel courageous.

"Hey Amy," I whisper, "are you tired?"

"Not even slightly."

"I never got to see you dance."

"I'm bad at dancing."  
"Can't be worse than me."

"You won!"

"Amber blew it on purpose. Come with me." Without consulting her any further I sneak out of the room. I hear a gentle, "Wait, Sapphire!" and then she follows me. Amy closes the door behind us and I turn on the light in the game room.

"Come on, show me what you can do!" I turn on the music player. All Of Me starts to play.

"Only if you dance with me." Amy says.

"Fine." I get up and do a little twirl. She does the same. We gently glide around the room until something goes off in my future vision, I barely catch her as she falls. Suddenly a glow surrounds us…

I take in this strange new form. My skin is dark and tinted purple. Two plump dark purple gemstones shine, one on my chest, the other on my stomach. I wear a halter with a flowy skirt. My hair cascades around me. I am calm even though I know each part of me is screaming, but for different reasons. I know I will split soon so I enjoy the time I have before I am ripped apart by the bluer half of me.

 _This is amazing!_ Amy ignores all but one of Sapphire's memories that try to talk to her.

 _What is this!_ Sapphire screams as one large memory is shoved into her brain. _No!_

There it is. Now I will be ripped apart. These 20 seconds have been fun.

I am shoved across the floor and can barely breathe. I look over at a confused Amy and tears spring to my eyes. She rushes towards me and I push her away. The first time I merged I learned to stop certain memories from being transferred. Amy hasn't had the chance to learn that power yet.

"Sapphire what…"  
"You don't really love me," I snap.

"No, I do! I have since…"  
"Since I saved you!"  
"Well ye…"

"It's called Florence Nightingale Syndrome!"  
"What is…"  
"Thinking you love someone because they saved your life. It will pass and I will not be heartbroken because you realized I'm right!"

"You like me too!"  
"Of course I do, you idiot! But, I refuse to be crushed by you when you realize you only thought you liked me!"

"No, no it's not like that, I swear!"

"It's exactly like…"  
"Let me finish a sentence!" I am speechless, shocked by her outburst. She continues, "yes, at first it was Flora What's her name syndrome or whatever you called it but it's not like that anymore!" I let her come closer to me, too shocked to really do anything. "I realized that was why I liked you so I tried to stop but then I couldn't. I just started to notice the little things. Like how honest you are, and yet still kind. And how you put yourself in danger on a regular basis just to help us. And how no one in the group appreciates you since you don't fight, but you put up with it anyway. I realize how much you do, how much you mean to us. To me. Please, Sapphire you have to believe me." For awhile you can hear the crickets chirp.

"I can't see what will happen based off my next response." I finally tell her honestly. "I don't know if you're telling the truth. I've never been in a relationship before. You have." She seems hurt by my last words.  
"Please give me a chance. Here, I'll prove it." She gets her bag from the couch and takes from it a box. A beautiful box.

"I made this for you." I take the box. Carefully I open it. Inside, perfectly placed, are a dark purple rose that matches the color of our merger's gems, a little glass bottle with shells and sand and a piece of paper inside. A gorgeous pair of earrings, the only difference is one is made of sapphires and the other amethysts. And little chocolates. But it's the heart that captivates me. A delicate wooden heart with engravings of us in front of a tree. I can tell she cared. I can tell she has for awhile. A part of me recognizes that Florence Nightingale Syndrome shouldn't last this long or be this deep. I turn the heart over to see our names carved in the trunk of the tree, and I can't help but get a bit emotional at the sight.

"Do you believe me now?"

I hesitate. I never take chances. I never have. All my life I've used my power to make decisions and when I couldn't see clearly down either path I've chosen neither. I don't like chances, I don't like risks. I don't want to take them.

But, maybe it's time to start. To let go of that fear and be normal for once.

I start the song over and pull her up to dance with me. A slow dance. I know there's no chance of us merging again. At the end of the song I kiss her cheek.

"Ok," I tell her and rest my head on her shoulder. "Just one thing."

"Anything, Sapphire."

"Don't tell Amber that you're my girlfriend now. That's what this is, right?"

"Of course, on both accounts."

"Why did you lie about Lisa?"

"I was exaggerating so as not to scare you. I was planning…"  
"To give me the box when Amber fell asleep. You'll learn how to stop memory transmit during merging eventually."

We stay up talking for another two hours, getting to know each other without Amber. I watch and grow more confident with my decision. Eventually we go to bed and face opposite directions so Amber won't suspect anything. But, secretly, beneath the covers, she holds my hand.

"Hey Sapphire." She whispers.

"What?"

"What should we name who we are when we merge?"

"You know the answer to that."

"Ok, but just in case say it on three. One… two… three,"  
"Tanzanite." We say together.  
I don't know what the future holds. I have to trust it will all be ok.

 **Author's Note: Well… what do you think? I know its a lot, Jonathan cheating on Amber with Jet, Bloodstone and the enemy, Amy and Sapphire, but I hope you're enjoying the story. There will be more Tanzanite but not for awhile since Amber doesn't know. Like promised, the next chapter, called Volleyball, won't be about romance. Let us know if you would like to see more chapters from other people's point of views and whose perspectives you want to see most.**

 **Oh, and yes, the writing in Bloodstone part isn't the best. It's on purpose, we want his awkwardness to shine through.**


	11. Chapter 10: Volleyball

Chapter 10: Volleyball

I wake up to the scent of pancakes wafting up from the kitchen. Bolting upright, I barely manage to save myself from tripping over Amy and Sapphire, still asleep on the inflatable mattress. Amy has half-fallen off the mattress, sprawled out, while Sapphire is curled up on the other side. I consider letting them sleep, but then my stomach growls, reminding me of the pancakes waiting downstairs.

"Hey!" I kick Amy's leg. "Wake up!"

She mumbles something and rolls over. Sapphire puts her pillow over her head.

"My mom's making pancakes!" I yank the blanket off the bed. Sapphire just curls up tighter, while Amy sits up at the mention of food.

"Pancakes?" Amy blinks, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Pancakes," I confirm. "I'll eat them all if you don't hurry up."

"No you won't," Sapphire mumbles. "You'll give up after 5."

"Hey, no fair!" I retaliate. "If you're awake enough for future vision, you're awake enough for breakfast."

"You're not going to stop, are you?" She mutters.

"Nope."

With a resigned sigh, Sapphire sits up, revealing a very impressive bedhead. I can't help but giggle.

"What? Is my hair a mess again?" She reaches up to touch the tangled mess, and audibly groans.

"It's not that bad," Amy says, surprising me. I figured she'd jump at any opportunity to tease Sapphire. I'm even more surprised when I see Sapphire's grateful smile. Well, at least they're getting along.

"Are you excited for field day?" I ask Amy as Sapphire hunts for her brush.

"Are you kidding me? 'Course I am!" Amy exclaims. "I'm just waiting for an excuse to bash Moonstone's face in."

"You can metaphorically bash her face in as much as you want," I tell her, "But I don't really feel like getting suspended in the last week of school."

"Found it!" Sapphire holds up her brush triumphantly, and I suppress a laugh. "Wait, what happened to your mirror?"

The full-length mirror which is normally on the inside of my closet door is conspicuously missing. I have a brief flashback to posing with my sword in front of the mirror and accidentally shattering it.

"It broke," is the only explanation I offer.

"Well, now how am I supposed to do my hair?" Sapphire grumbles.

"Here, let me help," Amy offers. Sapphire hands her the brush, and Amy starts working on her hair. Huh?

"I wish my school had a field day," Sapphire says after a few moments of awkward silence.

"You're not missing that much," I tell her. "It's basically just an excuse for classes to compete against each other."

"Well, be sure to crush Moonstone for me," Sapphire replies.

"I'm gonna personally destroy her," Amy declares.

"Just try not to get into too much trouble," I warn her again half-heartedly, because honestly, I want to see Moonstone's smug face bashed in just as much as the next girl.

"Wish I could see it," Sapphire says wistfully. "I bet it'll be a spectacle."

"Don't you already know?" I ask.

She shakes her head, to Amy's annoyance. "There are too many different outcomes to get a clear picture."

"Done!" Amy declares, dropping the brush into Sapphire's bag. "Now let's go eat pancakes."

As we're running down the stairs, Sapphire suddenly freezes mid-step, and pitches forwards down the stairwell. Fortunately, Amy reacts quickly, catching Sapphire in her arms.

"Sapphire!" She exclaims. I rush down to help. Amy looks close to tears. "She's freezing cold."

In fact, ice is starting to form on the stairs and around our feet. Sapphire is shivering uncontrollably, her eyes wide open and blank.

Neither of us know what to do, so we just hold her there and wait. Eventually she warms up and re-animates, putting a hand over her mouth.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Amy asks worriedly.

"I'm fine," Sapphire says after a moment. "I just remembered something."

No matter how hard we press, Sapphire won't give more of an answer than that. Eventually we give up and go eat our pancakes, and for the rest of the morning it's like nothing ever happened. Sapphire's dad picks her up at 11, and Amy leaves around 11:45.

I try texting Jet and Bloodstone, but they don't respond. Neither does Jonathan. I wonder what he's doing right now… Oh, well, at least I'll see them on Field Day.

"One more week. Just one more week," I chant to myself as I drag myself through the doors and into the school.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what everyone's thinking now." I look to my right and see Bloodstone leaning up against the wall, Jet doing his best to hide behind him.

"Hey, guys. Um, are you still mad at me?" I ask meekly.

"Definitely," Bloodstone replies. "But I heard that Moonstone is out to kick our butts, and I say we bash her face in first."

I can't help but laugh.

"What?" Jet asks, confused.

"That's almost exactly what Amy said," I explain once I've regained my breath. Bloodstone smirks at that, but doesn't say anything else. The bell rings, and we each head to our respective homerooms.

The four of us gather beside the bleachers as crowds of students stream out of the building. Me, Bloodstone, Amy, and…

"Wait, where's Jet?" I ask, looking around. He wouldn't ditch on us, right?

"Hey, guys!" I turn around to see Jet and Jonathan walking towards us, waving. I wave back, and wait for them to get close before speaking.

"Hey Jonathan, you wanna join us?" I ask.

"Sure, why not?" He grins. "Always good to have a bunch of half-alien superheroes on your side."

"Okay, one, we're not superheroes," Amy points out, "and two, we're not on your side, you're on ours."

A lot of people might have found that offensive, but not Jonathan. He just laughs it off and starts asking about which games we should play.

"What about volleyball?" Bloodstone suggests a few minutes into our discussion. "That works for 5 players."

"And I see Moonstone and her gang heading over there now," Amy adds, smashing a fist into her other hand rather forcefully. Sure enough, Moonstone's team is standing on one side of the volleyball court, daring anyone to challenge them.

"Let's go kick her butt," I declare. We march over to the court and take our positions.

"Alice. Why am I not surprised," Moonstone scoffs. "Where's the blue-gem freak?"  
"Her name is Sapphire, and she doesn't go to this school," I reply evenly, though I'm itching to whip out my sword and teach her a lesson.

"Oh well, at least she won't be slowing you down," Spinel remarks in such a nonchalant way that it takes all my willpower to refrain from fighting right then and there.

Surprisingly enough, Amy is the one to take a stand.

"Sapphire does not slow us down. She's an integral part of our team, and if you're going to keep insulting her, you'll have to answer to me!" She declares, one hand near her gem as if about to summon her weapons. Fortunately, she doesn't get a chance, as the ref blows a whistle and tosses a ball in Jonathan's direction.

Jonathan makes the first serve and we play normally for awhile. Suddenly, a few points in, just when I think we're about to get another point Zircon's jousting lance pops the ball up into the air, and Pearl spikes it. No one reacts fast enough to block, and they get the point.

"No fair! You can't use weapons!" Amy screams. Pearl winks playfully.

"If they're playing dirty, then so are we!" Jet declares, pulling out his glaive. The rest of us immediately follow suit, leaving poor Jonathan empty-handed.

Ruby serves, and I hit the ball with the flat of my sword. Spinel uses his own sword to hit it back, but Bloodstone spikes it with his gauntlets. Ruby catches the ball with her whip at the last second and hurls it back at our side. Amy tosses a dagger at it- I'm not sure what she was thinking- and it pops. I'm about to go get another ball when one lands in the center of the court.

Suddenly I realise that we're surrounded by a huge crowd, students and teachers alike. Most of the hybrids seem to be on our side, while the humans are cheering for Moonstone. Apparently we aren't the only hybrids Moonstone's bullied.

We keep playing, our various techniques getting more and more questionable. They win the first game, and we win the second.

"Best out of three?" Moonstone suggests.

"Best out of three," I agree.

We shoot back and forth for awhile, but every time the ball gets close to touching the ground someone pops it. I'm not proud to say it, but we're just as guilty of this as them. It happens again, and again, and again, until finally we run out of balls.

"Looks like it's a tie," I say smugly to Moonstone. Honestly, I'll take it, as long as they don't win.

"No, we had more points, so we won," Zircon counters.

"That's not how volleyball works!" Bloodstone exclaims.

"That's how it works for us," Pearl says, but I can detect something strange in her tone. I don't have time to put much thought into it, because that's the moment when Ruby sets the court on fire.

Jonathan scrambles off into the crowd as Moonstone's team launches an all-out attack. I find myself dueling with Spinel- our weapons are uncannily similar, but our fighting styles are completely different. He is very much a tank, putting a lot of weight behind his blows, making my arms ache just to block, although I usually manage to nimbly dodge out of the way, using my enhanced agility to my advantage. I wait for my opportunity to strike, and I take it, slicing a shallow gash down his leg. He doesn't exactly scream, but his fighting takes on a whole other level. I find myself parrying more and more often, and I realise that he's wearing me down. I can't avoid him forever.

 _3rd Person_

At the same time, Bloodstone and Pearl are circling each other. Neither of them wants to fight, but they both know that they have to make it look convincing, for the sake of their safety on each team. Bloodstone isn't in any real danger, but he knows that Moonstone would literally torture Pearl if she found out.

Pearl swipes at Bloodstone with her spear, just slightly too slow, and he easily blocks. They continue exchanging blows like this until Moonstone shouts at Pearl to get her head in the game. For a single instant, she looks frightened, but that is quickly replaced by determination. She whispers "sorry" under her breath as she swipes Bloodstone's feet out from under him and loudly declares "If you know what's good for you, you won't get up." He plays "dead", knowing that Amber will come down hard on him later, and he doesn't care.

Amy, on the other hand, is dueling both Ruby and Zircon. Well, mostly Ruby- Zircon isn't exactly the best fighter, just swinging around his lance with next to no control. Ruby, on the other hand, is wielding her whip like a practiced expert, forcing Amy to zig-zag chaotically around the court to avoid it. She waits for the right moment, then curls into a ball and dashes at Ruby full-speed, ramming into the smaller girl and sending her flying.

That was a big mistake. Zircon takes the opportunity to hit Amy from behind, sending her sprawling. Ruby runs in a circle around her, setting fire to the floor. Amy coughs and stays low to avoid the smoke, glaring at the two of them through the curtain of flames.

As for Jet, well, Jet isn't exactly fighting. He's currently engaged in a rather vicious shouting match with Moonstone, holding his glaive but unwilling to strike.

"You're just a pathetic weakling who doesn't know his place!" Moonstone shouts. "You are beneath me! I am the leader of the greatest hybrid team in the world! You are nothing!" Moonstone's gem glows, and a flash of light blinds him for a brief second.

"I'd watch who you call pathetic, Moonstone!" Jet shouts back, unfazed. "You rule with fear. Your so-called teammates would abandon you in a second if they thought they had a choice! Me? I'd do anything for my team. And I won't let you keep ruining everything!"

"Why you…! Oh, for god's sake, Pearl!" Moonstone's attention shifts briefly. "Stop messing around and get your head in the game!"

Jet is done playing games. He tries to take advantage of her distraction and strike, but a voice in the distance holds him back.

 _Amber's perspective_

Looking around at my team, I realize that we're losing. But it's not because they have an extra fighter, it's because we aren't getting the warnings we're used to. God, I wish Sapphire was here.

"JET! DON'T DO THAT OR YOU'LL SERIOUSLY HURT HER!" Sapphire shouts, sliding into the fray on a trail of ice. I swear I can hear everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"AMBER! SWORD UP!" I parry just in time to block Spinel's blow.

"BLOODSTONE! GET UP, AND GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU, IDIOT?"

"AMY! 3 SECONDS!"

Watching out of the corner of my eye, I see Sapphire using her ice to free Amy from her blazing prison, and at exactly the right moment Amy spin-dashes into Zircon, knocking him out of the way and leaving Ruby and Sapphire to duel.

I attempt to catch Spinel off-guard, but he parries, and the force of clashing blows sends us each back several feet. I suddenly find myself surrounded by a ring of flame, while Spinel's feet are coated in ice. Looking around, I see similar situations for everyone else, our team surrounded by flames and Moonstone's team slowly being encased in ice, save Ruby and Sapphire, who appear to be locked in a battle of wills. It's hauntingly beautiful, the blazing fire versus the freezing ice. At the last second, just when I think the fire is getting way too hot, frost puts out the fires, and the ice melts. Then the fire returns, as does the ice. At the last second everyone is freed again, and the cycle continues until it is obvious that Sapphire has had enough.

"Just leave them alone," Sapphire says. "There's no use in fighting."

"That's where you're wrong," Ruby retorts, and pulls out her whip. For a brief second, I panic- Sapphire is definitely at a disadvantage, since she doesn't have her own weapon, and there's not really anything I can do to help.

"Fine then," Sapphire says, and ice spikes form around Moonstone. I have to applaud her great strategizing- going after the leader? Great trick. I just hope Ruby doesn't follow her example.

Ruby grumbles, then lets her whip dissipate. "Fine. We'll call it a tie."

"That's all I wanted." Sapphire forms a trail of ice and skates away, presumably back to her school. We all sigh collectively, glad that it's over.

"YOU ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE," an authoritative voice shouts through a megaphone. The school principal is approaching through the crowd.

Crap.

"Everyone, the principal will see you now," the secretary says, opening the door to his office. I go first, trying to look confident, and failing miserably. There are two chairs in front of the principal's desk, and some benches along the wall. Moonstone and I each take a chair.

"Welcome," the principal says in a decidedly creepy tone. "Would you care to explain what happened this morning?"

"She started it," Moonstone and I immediately say in unison, pointing at one another.

"I'm not trying to place blame, I'm trying to get the facts. Brittney, why don't you go first?"

"My name is Moonstone," she grumbles, and I can't help but relate.

"Would you prefer that Alice go first?"

"No, sir." she says. "So, we were playing volleyball, but then Naila started cheating by popping the balls with her daggers."

"You cheated first!" Amy shouts, and I whip my head around and give her a death glare.

"That's enough, Naila. Let Brittney finish."

"And then I said it wasn't fair, but then Peter started attacking my friend Alyssa! And we told him to stop but then the rest of them started attacking too! We had no choice but to defend ourselves! And then this other random girl showed up out of nowhere and told Jeremy to kill me! I guess he still isn't over our break up."

"WHAT!?" everyone who isn't Jet on our team screams at him in unison. Jet seems to sink into the ugly red couch cushions behind him. They dated? I'll have to ask him about that later.

"That's… interesting, Brittney. Alice, why don't you share your side of the story."

"Sir, it wasn't like that at all. Zane was using his lance to lengthen his reach, so since they were using weapons we did the same. Then Sampson started popping the balls and forced us to do the same just to keep the odds fair, when we ran out of balls we said we'd tied but Brittney insisted that they won, and then when we refused to say they'd won THEY started attacking US! Ara only showed up to help us, she protected us from them. You know Monica trapped Naila in a ring of fire? You know Sampson almost cut my arm off? We are NOT the ones in the wrong here!"

Sometimes the truth is your sharpest weapon.

"Your stories are very different," the principal said after some deliberation.

"Ask any other hybrid and they'll back us up, practically the whole school was watching," I quickly say.

"Like I said, I'm not trying to place blame," he repeats. "But none of you denied using weapons, therefore you are in violation of school rule 348: No weapons of any kind allowed on school premises, under any circumstance."

We all find our feet very interesting to stare at.

"It's too late to suspend you, but you will be prohibited from participating in any end-of-year activities, and instead will spend your last week in detention. I won't prevent you from attending senior graduation if you chose, however, but nothing besides that. I'll be calling your parents tonight, and you will all stay here for the rest of today. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other business to attend to." With that he stands up, walks around the desk, and out the door.

"That went slightly better than I expected," I remark, turning the chair around to face my team.

"I'm really sorry, guys," Amy says. "I should've been more careful and not popped that ball."

"Don't beat yourself up," Bloodstone says. "We all went along with the cheating. Sapphire was the only one who tried to stop the fight."

"Thank god she succeeded," I remark. "I wonder if she got in trouble for ditching school."

"Knowing her, she'll weasel her way out of it," Amy says. "Future vision and all that."

"Yeah. Well, now we know, save the fights for after school, right?" I grin. We all laugh, but the mood is broken by the sound of sobs coming from Moonstone's side of the office.

Pearl is in tears, and Moonstone is still shouting at her, saying that it was her fault that they lost. Zircon is taking a similar verbal beating from Spinel, while Ruby just stands there, obviously glad she's not the one being blamed.

"Poor Pearl," Bloodstone whispers.

"Geez. There's a dysfunctional team if I ever saw one," Jet remarks.

"Speaking of which…" I look at Jet. "You and Moonstone?"

"8th grade. For 7 months. During which she was actually dating Spinel for like, 2 months, and didn't tell me we broke up. I found out from Ruby, actually. We used to be friends before Pearl invited her into Moonstone's group," he says bitterly. I nod.

For all that Moonstone's team is dysfunctional, ours certainly isn't. And that means that I'll have to be the bigger person. I stand up and walk over to them.

"Hey. Moonstone." The shouting quiets, and Moonstone stands up to face me.

"What do you want?" She glares at me, flaunting her 1 inch height advantage.

I hold out my hand. "Good game."

She stares at me for a moment, then slowly takes my hand and shakes. I smile. She goes back to talking with her team, though there's a lot less shouting now, thank god.

"Geez, Amber. That must've taken guts," Amy says.

"Hey, I'm not gonna let her keep ruining everything for us and her team," I say. "Gotta be the bigger person here, right?"

"Right," Bloodstone agrees. "We won't escalate into fighting again, not if we can help it."

"And we'll take down the corrupted gems, so they won't end up getting hurt," Jet agrees.

"Aww, team moment!" Amy has an evil grin on her face. "Group hug!" She grabs all of us in a bone-crushing squeeze, and I can't help but laugh.

"Wish Sapphire was here," I say once Amy finally releases us. "I mean, not here in pseudo-detention, but here with us."

"I know what you mean," Amy says, and there's a strange emotion in her tone that I can't quite identify.

Oh, well. This week is gonna be a lot less fun than it could've been, but even if I'm gonna get stuck in detention, at least I'll be with my friends.

Well crap, that's cheesy...

 **Author's Note: Yay, a long awaited break from romance! Hope you enjoyed this action-packed chapter. The next chapter is called A Bloody Secret, so you can guess what that's about. Not much romance in that one either. Unfortunately… nevermind.**

 **Please review, we'd love to hear your feedback so we can improve the story.**


	12. Chapter 11: A Bloody Secret

Chapter 11: A Bloody Secret

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock. The second hand of the clock slowly turns. It's the last day of school (more like the last day of detention,) and there are ten minutes left on the clock. My team and Moonstone's, along with the more scary and troublesome kids in our school, have all quieted down. We all stare collectively at the clock. I feel a cold stare on my back and slowly turn to see Janet staring at me. The black eye shadow around her eyes, black lipstick, dark clothes, many facial piercings, and bangs that completely cover one of her eyes send a chill down my spine. Emo kids freak me out. I try to remember why she's here but find I can't. There's someone I know who will.

"Hey Amy," I lean over and whisper, "what's Janet in here for?" I ask as if we're prisoners.

"Hmm…" Amy looks Janet up and down. "No gem, so she's the other one."

"The other… oh," I say, spotting another emo girl with makeup so dark I couldn't see her as she blended into the shadows. I notice a smooth dark green gemstone on her forehead (she used to wear a hoodie with the hood always down and tight). Her name used to be Susie but now she goes by Aventurine. Huh, it's strange to see friends that aren't all hybrids or all humans. Well, besides Jonathan and I, but we're a special case. I'm really falling for him! Sapphire was wrong, Jonathan was a great decision.

"So what are the two of them in for?" I ask again.

"They had a plan to burn the school flag but Aventurine was too chicken so Janet punched her then Aventurine summoned her weapon and they got suspended for punching the assistant principal."

"I feel like you missed some steps…" I say, confused.

"Are you guys talking about Aventurine and Janet?" Jet leans over, totally invading my personal space, to gossip.

"I heard they pantsed the assistant principal," Bloodstone says.

"No, you heard all wrong!" Amy cuts in.

"Yeah, they stayed after school one day and trashed the assistant principal's office when she gave Janet lunch detention for stealing pens from the school store when it was actually Aventurine who stole the pens," Jet says.

"What? No, they got into trouble for kicking the assistant principal in the nuts!" Amy says.

"I feel like I'm missing something… and what do they have against assistant principal Loiks?"

"I'm telling you, they pantsed him!"  
"No, they trashed his office!"

"They choked him!"

"Pants!"

"Office!"

"Headbutt!"

Instead of trying to get an answer out of them I continue staring at the clock, and try to ignore Janet's cold stare.

As they start to reach a conclusion on why Janet and Aventurine are in here, the bell rings and all arguments are forgotten.

"SCHOOL'S OUT!" Everyone in the room collectively screams. Jet, Bloodstone, Amy and I race out of there, second out the door only to Rick, the well-known school bully. It's clear why no one tried to cut ahead of him.

Since I'm still technically grounded we all head to my house, and Sapphire meets us outside my door.

"Wait outside," I tell my friends, "I have a plan…"

"Oh no, not your evil plan grin!" Amy exclaims, honestly scared.

"Mwahaha!" I say and open the door. I hear Sapphire whisper a quick, "you got this," and I know my plan will work.

"MOOOOOMMMMMMM!" I shout, and she pokes her head around the corner from the kitchen.

"What? I'm trying to cook here?" She has her 'I'm very annoyed so make this quick' face on.

"I know I'm technically still grounded but school just got out and I'm only grounded for two more days anyway so please let me go to the park with my friends!" I beg, pulling out my best puppy-dog eyes.

She sighs. "We've talked about this, Amber. I will not go back on my word."

"I'll get the groceries for you!"

She shoves a list, $60, and 3 bags in my hand and shoves me out the door with a quick "Have fun!"

"Well, that went better than expected," I declare cheerfully. We head out to Balrey Park.

Sapphire and I have a special surprise for the members of our group. We smile and spontaneously burst into laughs the entire walk there, earning many strange stares from the rest of our group. Strangely enough, by the time we get there I think Amy (of all people) might have a hunch as to what's going on.

"Now," I declare grandly, standing atop an old tree stump, "the moment you've all been waiting for. Today, our lesson is…"

Sapphire taps her phone, and a drumroll sounds.

"Merging!"

"Wait, seriously?" Amy and Jet exclaim, while even Bloodstone looks mildly surprised. Although there's something off about Amy's tone...

"Yeah, seriously," Sapphire says, blushing a tiny bit. "I know we put it off for a long time, but we didn't exactly want to be practicing in Amber's backyard."

"Okay, so teach!" Jet says, never failing to be his usual excitable self.

"First of all, pick a partner. Boys, I suggest you go together," I direct. "Since we have an odd number, we'll have to take turns. Amy, you'll be with me," I give her an "it's for the best so you two don't fight"look and she shakes her head.

"Or we could try a three-way merge," Amy suggests. I barely catch the brief expression of surprise that crosses Sapphire's face.

"That would be interesting," is all Sapphire says.

"Okay, then!" I agree, slightly confused but not about to back down. I know I can come off as kinda goofy and childish sometimes, but I think that's what makes me a good leader. I try hard to be approachable. "Sapphire and I discovered that the simplest and easiest way to merge is through dancing." Amy smiles.

The boys snicker at that, and I glare.

"Merging requires complete synchronization and trust in your partner, or partners," Sapphire continues. "I'd suggest finding a piece of music you both like, then both dance until you merge. I don't really have any other advice. We're all new to this, after all. Anything else?"

"I think we should dance to Human by Christina Perri," Amy says. "It's ironic." The boys don't take much more convincing than that. Soon Bloodstone's phone sings about being only human and we're all dancing. Jet and Bloodstone are surprisingly enthusiastic while the rest of us are being careful.

Jet and Bloodstone have a… unique dancing style, I'll put it that way. They look like characters in Fortnite half of the time, and the rest of the time they're going in circles chanting increasingly disturbing things about the end of the world.

But hey, whatever.

Sapphire seems uneasy, she slowly turns in circles eyeing Amy a lot. She must be nervous to dance in front of her since they aren't great friends. Amy is acting the same way. Amy makes weird popstar movements and that leaves me, doing some weird combination of Sapphire's ballet and Amy's sort-of twerking.

Slowly we all get more comfortable, and Jet and Bloodstone start actually dancing. It's funny really, once we all let go of being embarrassed and just have fun. Two flashes of light go of almost simultaneously.

"Hi," I say to the tall man with the dark black gem in front of me. I smirk because I'm taller than him.

"Hi," he responds.

"What's your name?" I ask.

"Fire Black Crystal," he declares proudly. "You?"

"Kunzite." The name settles easily into my three parts and I begin to explore my own feelings. A silent knowing that this experience won't last long registers with the two parts of me that are unfamiliar with visions.

Every part of myself conceals something from the other parts. Deep secrets, backstories, etc. The part with the visions hides the most, while one lets everything show, except some of her feelings about her parents. The last hides one thing, and only from the adopted part.

I feel myself losing control.

 _Keep it together,_ Sapphire says. _Just a little longer and we'll beat the guys._

Three is more unstable than two, and I lose.

As I get flung away from Sapphire and Amy only one thought is left on my mind after I see Jet and Bloodstone's merger collapse.

"What's your secret?" I exclaim, pointing at Amy. I mean, I expected secrets from Sapphire, but Amy? What's so important that she has the willpower to hide it? I know I'll get it out of her eventually.

"What?!" She says frantically.

"I know you were hiding something. C'mon, spill it!" Geez, I sound like Jet.

"I'm not hiding anything! Sapphire will tell you she can't see any secrets!"

"I don't," Sapphire says far too quickly.

"You can't see secrets, only futures!" I exclaim. "What is it?" I gasp, an idea striking. "Do you have a girlfriend?!" Amy's blush deepens to uncharted shades of red.

"No, no, definitely not…"

"You do!" I scream.

"Who's your GF?" Bloodstone asks.

"Yeah, who?" Jet asks.

"Tell us?!" Sapphire says in a strange tone that I can't quite place.

"Uh…" Amy mumbles, then shouts, "I don't have to tell you nothing and you can't make me! Shouldn't I be allowed to have secrets?" Everyone is stunned into silence from that outburst.

"She's right," Sapphire says, "we're all allowed to keep secrets."

"Yeah," Bloodstone says, "sometimes it's best not to tell."

"Sometimes secrets can hurt people you really care about." Jet says. Jet and Bloodstone share a look.

"Fine," I say, "but for the record I'm not hiding anything. My life is an open book." I'm grateful Amy and Sapphire don't immediately contradict that.

The rest of the day, by unspoken agreement, is spent on normal combat stuff. I end up leaving early to fulfil my promise of grocery shopping, which isn't as dull as I would've thought when I realise my mom gave me just enough extra money to get an ice cream bar. However, the whole time as I'm walking home, my mind keeps wandering to Amy, and what she'd have enough willpower to keep a secret.

A girlfriend, it has to be a girlfriend. What else would she care that much about?

But that doesn't make sense. Why would she keep that a secret from me? Maybe her girlfriend isn't out yet. That would make sense. I still think she'd trust me enough to tell me. I can keep secrets. She knows that.

Wait, what if she likes me too. Crap, that would just be the worst. I can't deal with all this. And, she knows I'm with Jonathan! Maybe that's why she'd hide it.

Could I ever even like her? I don't know why my mind is wandering here from there but… if she liked me… how would I feel about that? I've never thought about Amy in a romantic way before. Now I find myself doing just that…

She's really pretty, even if I've never noticed it. Her dark skin and wild hair just add to her charm, I couldn't imagine her being any different. She usually has her hair in some crazy hairstyle, like cornrows with purple weave, or pigtails that make her look like Harley Quinn.

And her smile… it's priceless.

She's also funny, and loyal, and trusting… most of the time. She'd sacrifice herself for me in a heartbeat. She'd sacrifice herself for anyone one of us without hesitation. Even Sapphire. I remember when we were little, the games that we'd play…

Oh no.

I push that out of my mind and replace it with images of Jonathan and what I know about him… which I suddenly realize is very little. I like him, what I know about him, but I don't even know that much. Jet could help me, they went to camp together. Maybe I should call him. Maybe I should call Jonathan.

To keep my mind off of Amy I decide that that's the best course of action

"Hey babe," Jonathan says.

"Hey," I say. "I was just randomly thinking about you. So... wanna go out tonight?"

"Uh, sure, why not? Where do you want to meet? Our place in the park or a restaurant?"

"Let's actually go somewhere for once," I decide. "Burger King is always good."

"Ok, when?"

"Meet you in 20?"

"No, I have a friend over, maybe at 7?" I'm slightly disappointed but whatever, I can wait 2 hours.

"Ok, sure. See you then."

In the meantime my thoughts wander back towards Amy so I quickly divert them, segueing to a different train of thought.

I hang out with her and Sapphire a lot. I feel like we've gotten way closer ever since we revealed our gems, but that makes me realize something. I should hang out with Bloodstone and Jet more. I call Sapphire all the time as well as Amy. I even hang out with each of them just the two of us sometimes. I should do the same with Bloodstone and Jet.

What happened to my relationships with them? I can't remember the last time I talked to either of them about non gem stuff, well besides the whole love triangle situation. We used to be really great friends, always getting into trouble at school. One time we broke into the teacher's lounge after school and stole all the snacks in the vending machine, then put those gross fitness bars in the empty bags. Me, Jet, and Bloodstone shared the bounty of glorious snacks, and I have to say it was so satisfying watching them trying to figure out who did it.

But what happened to that? What changed? Ever since we all revealed our identities as hybrids, I feel like my whole life turned upside-down. Not necessarily in a bad way, but it feels like I've been distanced from my friends. I need to reach out to them, repair our fragile bonds, not just for my sake, but for the sake of the team.

It's an hour before my date, and after wasting the last hour watching youtube and NOT calling Jet or Bloodstone, I decide to get ready. I put on my favorite short dress, now that it's warm enough to wear it, and spend half an hour playing video games, accidentally seeing my reflection and brushing my hair, then going back to the game to repeat the process. Finally, with 20 minutes till 7 I head out to Burger King. If I'm slightly late it will keep him hungry for longer.

I arrive and look around, he's not here. I choose a booth to wait at.

Half an hour passes, I get up to get my burger.

I eat it slowly for the next 20 minutes and then it's gone.

I text the girls.

 **HELP! I THINK JONATHAN JUST STOOD ME UP! I'VE BEEN WAITING AT BURGER KING, WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET OVER AN HOUR AGO!** Sapphire, who must have known I would text thanks to her future vision, swoops in right away, with her accomplice, who really shouldn't be answering her phone. Seriously, Amy never responds this quickly.

 **TEXT HIM,** Sapphire responds.

 **KICK HIM IN THE NUTS IF HE EVER SHOWS UP!** Amy makes me laugh. She's so funny.

 **DON'T DO THAT,** my voice of reason instructs me. **TEXT HIM, BUT DON'T WAIT ANYMORE IF HE DOESN'T RESPOND.**

 **KICK HIM IN THE NUTS!**

 **THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA!** I laugh and suddenly receive a notification.

It's a text. From Jonathan.

 **AMBER! I'M SO SORRY, I GOT DISTRACTED AND MY FRIEND HAD AN EMERGENCY BUT IT'S ALL BETTER NOW. ARE YOU STILL THERE? I CAN MEET YOU IN 20…** As mad as I am I have to admit, it's sweet that he helped his friend. Nevertheless I do not want to see him right now.

 **IT'S OK BUT DON'T BOTHER COMING. I LEFT 30 MINUTES AGO ANYWAY.**

 **I AM REALLY SORRY, MAYBE WE CAN MEET UP ON SUNDAY? 3?**

 **SORRY, I HAVE A FRIEND COMING OVER.** It's a lie but I don't care.

 **AMBER… I SAID I WAS SORRY.**

 **I KNOW YOU'RE SORRY, I THINK ITS SWEET THAT U HELPED YOUR FRIEND. BUT YOU STILL SHOULD'VE TEXTED ME EARLIER.**

 **I KNOW, LET ME MAKE IT UP TO YOU?**

 **...HOW?**

 **I'M COMING BY YOUR HOUSE TOMORROW AT 6 TO GIVE YOU FLOWERS. WHETHER YOU WANT THEM OR NOT.**

 **I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT.**

 **AMBER…**

 **GOODNIGHT.** I stop texting him. He doesn't bother to respond. I text Amy and Sapphire as I leave.

I don't feel like talking to anyone on Saturday, but I know I need to see Jet or Bloodstone. Despite all that, I don't even try calling them until around 2pm. I try Jet first, I need info on Jonathan, but he doesn't pick up. Strange, he hardly ever forgets his phone. Unless he's ignoring me… no, it's probably nothing. I call Bloodstone instead.

"What do you want, Amber," Bloodstone asks, his voice more expressionless than usual.

"Hello to you too, Bloodstone," I reply. "I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out at some point. It feels like I haven't gotten to talk to you or Jet much lately."

"There's a good reason for that you know."

"Even before that," I counter. "Like, ever since all the gem stuff started happening I barely get to see you guys."

"We literally hang out almost every day after school for gem stuff."

"I mean just us. You know, like old times?" I realize how awkward this is.

He sighs. "Fine."

"Yay! Oh, can you try calling Jet? He didn't pick up."

"No." His tone is very final. I don't even try to argue.

"Ok, then. When do you want to-"

"I'll be there in ten minutes." He hangs up. Typical Bloodstone.

I use the ten minutes of waiting to do a quick once-over of my room and hide anything that might be embarrassing for me, or triggering for him. Like the little red heart that says J+A in it that Jonathan gave to me. I've been staring at it all day.

Bloodstone doesn't knock on the door. He doesn't even use the door. One moment I'm about to go downstairs, the next I hear my window open and see a certain hybrid tumble head-over-heels across my bed and onto the floor.

"Geez, dramatic much?" I ask. "What's the occasion?"

"Nothing," he mumbles. "Just didn't feel like talking to anyone else."

I frown, and go over to shut the window, but he beats me to it. I catch a glimpse of a girl running down the street.

"Who was that?" I ask. Then the pieces click into place. "Ohmygoshdoyoufinallyhaveagirlfriend?!" I scream, and Bloodstone covers his ears.

"What no I don't know what you're talking about," he says quickly, but his cheeks are bright red, giving him away.

"Wow, first Amy, now you? Well, tell me! Who is it?"

"No one you know," he mumbles.

"C'mon, I have a right to know!" I say. A tiny part of me feels bad for pressuring him, but I'm too excited to care.

"No, you don't!" he says forcefully. "I thought we were allowed to keep secrets!"

"Why do you need to, though?" I ask. I'm backing down for now, but my mind is racing, trying to make connections. "Unless you think I'd get mad…"

Bloodstone's blush is reaching uncharted levels. Like, worse than Jet levels.

"Whatever your train of thought is, stop right now!" He declares, and his voice cracks from panic.

"You think I'd get mad if I found out…" I ponder. "So that means…"

"Stop it!" Bloodstone screams, cutting me off. "Just stop. Whatever you're thinking, stop. You're always poking your nose into things! Can't you just leave me alone?"

I stop, shocked. I don't think I've seen Bloodstone yell since… 3rd grade? That sounds about right. I think that was the time he threw a desk at the teacher and broke his nose. That was the only time I'd seen him angry.

"Ok," I say slowly. "Sorry."

Bloodstone changes the subject to talking about his RPGs, and while I couldn't care less, it's nice to not be talking about how we're going to survive the next monster attack, or whether we'll have another run-in with Moonstone's team. Eventually it gets late, and I get hungry. Bloodstone leaves via the window- don't ask me why- and I actually use the front door, for once. I'm not grounded anymore, after all.

We head over to Burger King in the downtown area, and as we're eating I notice Bloodstone keeps looking out the window nervously, and he's fidgeting under the table. Bloodstone doesn't normally fidget.

I excuse myself to go to the bathroom, but instead I stop just around the corner and watch Bloodstone. Almost immediately he walks out the door, and I stealthily follow him.

Just outside, Pearl is sitting on a bench. Bloodstone approaches her from behind, startling her, but they laugh it off. I can't hear what they're saying, but I watch Bloodstone's happy, blushing expression as they talk, and she gives him a kiss on the cheek before hurrying off. Bloodstone comes back towards the restaurant, and I make a beeline for my seat.

"Oh, hey," he says when he sits down. "I, uh, got us more ketchup packets." he places a few on the table. I don't buy it.

"You and Pearl, huh?" I say. His face turns bright red.

"Uh… it's not what it looks like…"

"You don't have to be such a drama queen, you know," I say. He looks up, startled. "I mean, yeah, you're dating the 'enemy', but Moonstone's the real enemy here, not Pearl. Besides," and now I can't help but grin. "It's a classic Romeo and Juliet!" My head fills with all the romance novels about forbidden love that I've ever read.

Bloodstone bursts out laughing for a moment, but quickly falls back into serious mode. "Don't you dare tell anyone else about this," he says.

"If you don't want me to, I won't. But trust me when I say this- most of the time, secrets aren't meant to be kept." With that, I make a dramatic exit, though I'm considerate enough to dump the remains of my burger in the trash on the way. And yes, I had that line planned in advance, just waiting for the right moment.

I have to admit, I was kinda surprised. I didn't really think Pearl was Bloodstone's type. But even I have to admit they look cute together. I don't think I've seen Bloodstone blush so much in one day.

"Amber, wait," I turn around to see Bloodstone catching up to me. "You don't understand."

"Don't understand what?" I ask, confused.

"If Moonstone finds out, she'll kill her. That's Pearl's words, not mine. And knowing Moonstone, I'm not sure she's being metaphorical."

I stand there for a moment, letting it sink in. Then I say, "Moonstone is a total bitch. Tell Pearl she shouldn't be hanging out with her anyway."

"But-"

I cut Bloodstone off. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. I get how important this is to you."

"Thanks," he says gratefully.

When I get home there are flowers on my bed. What is it with guys and climbing in my window?

 **Author's Note: Hi guys! Sorry about the late update, NaNoWriMo just started and BOTH of us are doing it for our own stories… yeah, that's gonna be pretty hectic. So, for the month of November, we will be updating every other week, since we won't have as much time to write. I'm sure you all understand.**

 **Anyway, Thanks for reading this chapter! Our next chapter, Sharing Isn't Always Caring, is from Jet and Bloodstone's perspectives and features emotions. Many emotions.**

 **Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review!**


	13. Chapter 12: Sharing Isn't Always Caring

Chapter 12: Sharing Isn't Always Caring

Bloodstone

I can't avoid talking to him anymore. I knew eventually I'd have to confront the situation head on. I've never handled conflict well. Maybe that's why I usually avoid it. Except the whole gem thing. That's a good conflict.

Warning in advance; I'm about to get all soul searchy.

Why do I write RPG's? Seriously, tell me why. I hate conflict yet I'm constantly creating strings of them and weaving them together like a spider's web in my mind. I create tons of characters and their tragic backstories. Each has a conflict that they think they can solve through adventure. Then I create conflicts for the adventures themselves. I keep creating completely unrelated ones until I've created an entire universe's worth, then the final step is to shove all these personal and large scale conflicts together and thus my RPG is born.

They're getting darker too. My first one was a fastfood-land adventure, living out my fantasies of gorging myself of Burger King and McDonald's all day. Now evil stepmothers and abusive relationships keep popping up. In my last RPG out of the 100 different characters, 13 had a step parent, 11 were evil, and 8 were stepmothers. I had 6 abusive boyfriends, 4 abusive girlfriends, and 7 cases of child abuse. Most were either depression or anxiety stories as well.

Why am I thinking these things? My life is pretty good, no complaints here.

I mean I guess I would like it if my mom didn't hate me. She rarely speaks to me and when she does it's to scold me. I've never understood our relationship. She's always so nice to my brother but she treats me like I'm trash. My dad and brother make up for it though.

And I'd like to not have to keep my relationship with Pearl a secret. Although I am very happy with her. We've been hanging out almost everyday that I don't have training and we call/facetime each other every night before bed. It sounds so cheesy, but I love hearing her voice. Amber might know now but that doesn't mean I'm ready for everyone to find out. The more people that know the more chances Moonstone finds out. If that happens we're vegetables on a kabob, we're skewered.

Get it, cause kabobs are veggies on a skewer and we'd be screwed?

Moving on from that… I love the summer. I know it's only the fourth day but I can't stop smiling. This is what I live for, being free to do whatever I want. We have plans to meet up almost everyday, and I have plans with Pearl on all the days we aren't training. Amber and, surprisingly, Amy are obviously upset Sapphire can't join us but since I don't know her too well I'm not as affected. I mean, it will be hard if we run into any fights without her guidance but we have to learn how to fight without her.

I'm stalling. I know I'm stalling, I wasted all of yesterday doing nothing because I wasn't ready to talk about it, especially after being outed by Amber for my relationship. I really don't want to talk to Jet.

Oh, I guess I should explain the tension between us.

It started friday when we merged. Apparently when you merge this whole, memory transfer thingy happens. To make a long story short, my brain started being fed his memories, one at a time at a fast speed. It may have been fast but it wasn't instantaneous. I can tell that I haven't seen all of his memories. I know that while his memories invaded my mind mine invaded his. I know he got the Pearl one because he thought something into Fire Black Crystal's mind.

But none of that's the problem, except maybe the Pearl thing. The problem was one particular memory I saw that still scares me.

Actually, 5 memories.

The first took place last Saturday, not quite a week before our merger. He was kissing Jonathan. Jet slept over, as had been the plan.

Then there was a similar situation on Sunday in the morning. They hung out again on Monday, making out before our game of Volleyball. That's where he disappeared to. There was also Wednesday at boy scouts and finally Friday, a text conversation. They planned to meet up tonight and have another sleepover.

At the same time I can tell all of this is breaking him. I knew something was wrong before but I didn't want to pester him. Now I know it's mandatory that we talk.

And I know that he found out about Pearl. And then Amber did yesterday… I need to talk to him about that, make sure he won't tell. I shouldn't have stalled this much already. I'm calling him. He picks up right away, he's just as anxious to talk to me as I am him.

"Hey, Bloodstone," he says.

"Hey. We need to talk, but you know that." I decide to be blunt.

"Yeah. Maybe can we not have this conversation over the phone?"

"Yeah. Meet me at the tree house in 15."

"The tree house? Really?"

"Yes."

"I can't come now, I'm busy."

"Jet…"

"I am a very busy teenager!"

"Jet…"

"Ok, fine. Be there in 20." I understand that to mean he's not home. Otherwise he'd be there in 10.

I guess I should explain the tree house.

When Jet and I were like, 8, we used to hang out in Balrey park all the time. Jet had that little clearing he'd always go to, and we used to hang out there, but then one day we saw some teenagers there and decided to find someplace else. So logically, we put our nerdy skills to work and built a treehouse in the middle of the woods. It's pretty small for us now, but back then it was perfect. We promised never to tell anyone about it, and we've kept that promise to this day. I know he didn't tell Jonathan, at least I can give him credit for that.

He's late by two minutes and I decide not to pry. He looks guilty as heck.

"Hey…" Jet says nervously.

"Do you wanna go first, or should I?"

"You, definitely you."

"Alright, but you're only delaying the inevitable," I warn him. I lean against the wall of the tree house, my head nearly touching the roof.

"I know," he says, resigned.

"So... you know about Pearl."

"Yeah. How did that happen?" I know he'd complain if I didn't have dirt on him.

"Remember when we went to get ice cream, and Pearl was there, and I went to talk to her?"

"Yeah."

"I may have impulsively asked her out."

"Good for you. Honestly, you never take chances. If she made you impulsive then I'll have to approve." He means it.

"She's like, totally perfect for me too. We like all the same things, we're both awesome- the only problem is that Moonstone would totally kill her if she found out."

"Literally or Metaphorically? And what about Amber?" I give him a look. He turns away.

"I'm going to take that in a different context than you probably intended. Amber knows about me and Pearl, and she approves."

"Oh. Good for you."

"Now it's your turn. You and Jonathan? Seriously?"

"Why don't you tell me more about Pearl instead? That sounds like a better topic," he says desperately.

"Stop stalling. Seriously. Why are you being such a jerk? I know you had a thing for Jonathan but he totally rejected you and he was dating Amber and I know you don't like her anymore but seriously she's still our friend and you're a total jerk."

"I know." I see a tear form in his eye. Jet doesn't cry. In fact, I've never seen it happen. Even when he broke his leg when he was little, even when he was bullied. All my life he's taken insults and brushed them right off. That's why, when I see that tear, I know I went too far, but at the same time I'm glad I went there.

"If you know, then why did you do it?" I ask.

"Can I just show you? It'll be easier that way."

"What do you mean?"

"If we merge again I can show you what happened. I don't think I could get through saying it all."

"I've seen more than enough already."

"Then let me tell you, In Fire Black Crystal's head. Then all I have to do is think it."

"You're not going to let me say no, are you." It's not a question.

"I can't tell you, it's too hard."

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." He looks hurt at my blunt words, but at the same time, relieved.

Neither of us are at all good at dancing. In fact, I'm probably the worst dancer in the entire school. But ritualistic chanting and cringey, memeified moves? That I can do.

We go to the (fortunately empty) clearing, that same secret place we've been to before. Neither of us bother putting on music, and we start dancing in circles, randomly chanting and generally being cringey. Neither of us care.

Merging is weird. Difficult, too. Especially when we both have so many weird emotions going on. But having done it once before, it's not quite as hard to merge again.

Fire Black Crystal is strange. I'm a strange being. Given free reign, I'd probably cause a lot of destruction. Like, way too much. And I'd know it, I would know it was too much. I'd do it anyway. Bloodstone blames this on Jet. Jet knows it's not all him. Maybe he can use that to make Bloodstone listen because now, I exist for a purpose, and that purpose is for Jet to help Bloodstone understand.

First lets get two thing straight, no part of me thinks this is right. Jet is ashamed, that Bloodstone can see, but he can't understand why Jet still does this. Jet begins to think, letting it all pour out.

 _I love him. It's not just a crush and it's not like what I had with Moonstone or anything like what I felt for Amber. I felt it at camp too, stronger than anything I'd ever known before. But then he broke my heart because he was seeing someone. I admired the fact that he told me, that he wasn't willing to cheat. I guess that's gone._

 _When he came here, to our school, I felt it all again, just as strong, but I pushed it away. I already liked Amber at that point and didn't want to think about him. I never asked if he was still dating that girl, I didn't bother. I didn't want him to break me again. So I fought with you instead. It was easier. But then, when he told me over League of Legends that he was dating Amber, and he talked about their kiss… it hurt. It hurt so much. It wasn't just that Amber had taken the easy way out, or that she was just using him… it was that someone I admired so deeply could see what I saw in someone. And then it hurt more that it wasn't me. That's when he broke my heart the second time._

 _I didn't want to tell him. He was never going to know. But the feeling consumed me, and after all of this gem stuff, being fearless and confident… it made me impulsive. Like when you asked out Pearl. I'm ashamed to admit it. I know it's wrong, he knows it too. Everytime we meet we say this is the last time, that our plans for later are just to hang out, to prove we can be just friends. It never ends that way. It's only been a week but still… I know that it's a lie, I know we won't be just friends. I think he knows too. I meet him anyway. There's one thing I know he doesn't know. How much it hurts me. How now, my heart breaks everyday. It's cheesy. It's true. It hurts so much. At the beginning he told me we needed to stop and it broke each time. Now he tells me that he'll leave her and we can be together and I tell him no and it breaks._

 _Why did you tell him no? Just so you can make things worse? So you can hurt Amber more? Make the end that much worse for her? You claim to be her friend! I can't do this, I can't hear it!_

I am torn apart.

Jet

"You're disgusting." Bloodstone says to me- and then he sees me. We were thrown apart, but after seeing me he begins to close the distance.

"Jet? Are you ok?" His voice cracks, he's scared.

I'm scaring him. I'm curled up in a ball, shivering , crying, screaming. I can't stop.

"I know!" I say between wails. "I had m-my sh-sh-shot and I-I b-blew it!"

"Stop crying!"

"It's m-my fault! I didn't want to-to hurt her. Th-th-th-that's why I said what I said. I-I said 'no, this is our-our problem and we n-need to end it!' I knew we weren't going to! I just couldn't face the way she'd look at me once she knew what I did! Once they broke up and then she found out about us! She'd put two and two together! I needed to protect myself! I broke my heart! I told him to be with her while he's with me! I told him to break me! I-I… I'm broken." I let out a blood curdling scream at my confession. I could barely admit to myself what I knew to be true. I can't handle the guilt. I know it needs to stop. But I know I'll never have the strength to end it.

I know he'd leave her.

I don't want him to. I don't want him to resent me. I don't want her to know.

I don't want to ruin my life.

Too late, I already have.

"Geez man…" Bloodstone shakes his head. "Your life is seriously messed up. But hey, that's the way of the teenager."

"Thanks a lot!" I say and push him away from me. I struggle to stand. As I try to walk away I reach my arm up to wipe my tears away so I can see, and I realize my sleeve is completely soaked, like I just went swimming. I curse under my breath and breakdown crying again. I want to stop, I'm trying to stop, but it's all too much, admitting to everything. And it's all my fault.

"Look, dude, I won't lie, you messed up…"

"Ya' think?!"

"But, there's a but, but you can't go back in time…"  
"How is that supposed to help?!"

"SO now you have some decisions to make. Look, you can't go back so let's think about the future."

"That's the problem, there's no good choice, either way someone loses."

"You have two options, tell Jonathan to break up with Amber or end whatever is going on between you two."

"I've been trying!"

"Then let me aide you. If you don't make a decision and tell me about it in the next 2 weeks I'll tell Amber. Believe me I'll do it."

"Bloodstone!"

"And I'll know if you're lying. Think about your choice."

"Amber's leaving for Empire City next Saturday!"  
"Then I guess you only really have 13 days."

"Please don't!"

"I'm trying to help you here."

"I know."

"Then you know I'm right. And I know you'll do the right thing." I nod knowingly.

"I have to go now," I tell him. I don't need to but I can't stand this anymore.

"I understand. I'll see you tomorrow for training?"

"Yeah. Training without Sapphire. That will be hard."

"Yeah." We walk away.

There is no decision to be made. I know what I have to do. And I know that it'll probably be next friday when I make it. Basically the last second.

 _Next Tuesday, 4 days before Amber leaves:_

I knock on his door. I know what I have to do but I'm not ready. I can't wait until Friday. It's not fair to Amber that I've waited this long. We've hung out too many times in the last 9 days. I can't take the guilt or the pain. It has to end. It has to be over now.

I can't do this.

I have to.

"Jet!" As he opens the door to let me in his smile lights up the entire neighborhood. Quickly it fades as he realizes I'm not happy.

"Is something wrong? Does she know?" He asks me, worried.

"When is she coming?" I ask.

"She'll be here in twenty. I can tell her not to if you want."

"No, I'll be quick." It's better really that I have a time constraint. I need to get what I have to say out fast with no hesitations. I step inside and we go to his room. It's second nature by now, I've memorized his house's layout as if it were my own.

"I love you, Jonathan. You know that right?" I ask halfheartedly when he closes the door.

"Yes of course. And you know I love you too, right?" I nod. It may be the first time we've actually said it but neither of us is surprised. It's not the big moment I pictured my first "I love you" to be. It's sad as I know what's next and I think he does too.

"Jonathan… I can't keep doing this anymore."

"What do you mean? Do you need me to break up with Amber?"

"No." He blinks, surprised. "I don't want to hurt her anymore than I already have."

"But… why? Why now?" He looks like he's about to cry.

"I had to make a choice," I say, though I know he won't be satisfied with that answer. Before he can press for information, I say, "If I don't do something, Bloodstone will tell Amber."

"Bloodstone? You told him?"

"No, he found out by accident," I say. I really don't want to explain merging right now…

"Jet, I'll leave her! I swear I'd rather do that! Please, why did you choose this?" He's crying now.

"Because it's wrong. We never should've been together in the first place. I can't do that to her, it's not fair."

"I'll leave her anyway, with or without you. As soon as she gets here I'm ending things,whether we're together or not."

"No, I don't want that. Give it a good shot you two. You make a great couple. Maybe if things don't work out we can grab Burger King some day." I'm crying now too. I don't like crying. The last time I cried before 9 days ago was when I was a baby.

"Please, Jet, don't do this. I love you, not her. The only reason I stayed with her was because you wanted me to." I almost laugh. I think he liked having both of us. I'm not mad though. The rest of what he says is sincere and he's not trying to lie.

"It's not right. You liked her enough to ask her out. You can be there again. Start over with her. Just don't tell her that."

"Please!"

"I'm sorry." I hold him in my arms while he cries, whispering "I love you" and similar things. I tell him the same. I know I made the right choice as painful as it is. He knows I did right too. He just doesn't want to believe it.

"One last time?" He begs and I know that the answer will be yes. My two weeks aren't technically up yet.

"Fine. One last time."

He kisses me, and for a moment, the world melts away. Then I kiss him back. Then again and again.

"I have to go," I say.

"Goodbye," he cries and kisses me one last time. We linger.

"Hey, Jonathan! I thought I'd come surprise you, I got us-" Amber stops in the doorway, and I hurriedly push Jonathan away. She just stands there, shocked looking at us, and my cheeks are bright red. Tears form in her eyes, and the paper bag she was holding drops to the ground. In that instant, three hearts shatter.

 **Author's note: Ah, cliffhangers. The epitome of great writing (not that this is great writing). Well, what do you think? Did we fool you into actually thinking things would be resolved peacefully? Oh no, noooooo, that would be easy! Stay tuned for the next chapter, To Catch a Cheetah, in which Amber gets very, very mad.**

 **Also, special guest appearance by… (drumroll) a literal corrupted gem cheetah!**

 **Quick reminder, we won't post again until the week after next week because of NaNoWriMo. See you in two weeks!**


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